Fuel Economy: The Next Fleet Battleground
In a previous post, we discussed the benefits and importance of having a green fleet. It has become obvious that our impact to the overall global environment is simply not sustainable. Our dependence on fossil fuels, rather than cleaner, renewable resources, has led us to build an economy on something that does immeasurable harm at an unfathomable scale.
People are starting to take notice. While federal governments walk a fine line between pushing for increased fuel standards and not wanting to anger powerful automobile unions or foreign oil manufacturers, those in private industry are leading the charge and saying what elected officials either can’t or won’t.
One such visionary is Richard Branson. Known the world over as the billionaire CEO of Virgin, Branson’s activities and interests run the gamut from entertainment and media to commercial flight and space tourism. He is also leading the way in the battle to increase fuel economy standards. His most recent endeavor focuses specifically on the trucking industry. (http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/north-american-trucking-at-a-powerful-crossroads)
Fleet managers responsible for large, long-haul trucks drown in fuel bills. According to Branson, tractor-trailer fleets in North America spend $105 billion per year fueling their vehicles. He thinks that this is too much and believes that number can be cut by at least $40 billion.
In a recent blog post, he says that industry groups have been working on the trucking fleet fuel efficiency issue for years but a lack of transparency between the groups was stifling innovation and slowing progress. In response, Trucking Efficiency (http://www.truckingefficiency.org) was formed. Trucking Efficiency evaluates fuel-saving technologies and then makes the results of those evaluations available to the trucking industry for free.
The effort is already showing results. Branson claims $500 million in fuel savings in 2014 and an 18% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It’s not $40 billion but it’s certainly a start, especially when every penny counts.
In the meantime, fleet managers will continue to pore over fleet management system data to find out how efficiently their vehicles are running and what can be done to increase that efficiency.
Simple things like making sure tires are properly inflated, exhaust systems are leak-free, and drivers are accelerating slowly and staying within speed guidelines will ensure that every drop of fuel in a truck’s tanks is used as effectively as possible. We have to make the most of what we have and until groups like Trucking Efficiency show us a better way, what we have is engines based on technology that has been with us since the mid-1800s.