According to the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), the five fastest adopted fuel efficiency technologies in the trucking industry are as follows:
1.Trailer skirts
2. Idle shutdown
3.Tractor chassis skirts
4.Low rolling resistance duals
5.Geardown protection
In a recent study dubbed the “most comprehensive review of class 8 fuel efficiency adoption ever conducted” – involving 41,000 tractors and 125,000 trailers – NACFE reports that fleets surveyed on their adoption of fuel efficient equipment said they saved an annual average of $5,700 per truck in fuel, which is about $1,300 in 2011.
The study involved 10 fleets, including Canadian carriers Bison Transport and Challenger Motor Freight in various sectors and applications. It looked at the purchase of 60 technologies, products and operational practices, finding that the rate of adoption increased from 31 per cent to 50 per cent between 2003 and 2012.
Products that lead to the biggest improvements in fuel economy, according to NACFE, include wide-base tires, low rolling resistance tires and inflation-monitoring systems.
Additionally, about 90 per cent of carriers indicated they adopt operating practices like speed limiting, routing software and fuel efficiency-based driver training.
According to carriers surveyed, the top impediments in the way of faster market penetration include: lack of credible information; reliability and uptime not sufficient; increased cost of operation diverting capital; availability throughout cycle; lack of or ‘split’ incentives result in lack of motivation to adopt.
A summary of some of the major findings in the report can be found here.
