Carriers Rate ‘Best’ SmartWay Initiatives
This story appears in the Dec. 24 & 31 print edition of Transport Topics.
Highway speed reduction, driver training, progressive shifting and fuel-operated heaters received the highest marks for return on investment in a recent fleet survey evaluating initiatives in the SmartWay program.
Those were the most commonly implemented initiatives, according to a Dec. 11 statement by Transplace, a third-party logistics provider and one of the survey’s sponsors.
Recording engine data for driver feedback, low-rolling-resistance tires and aerodynamic truck mirrors also ranked well.
SmartWay is a partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency and the transportation industry, aimed at improving fuel efficiency and reducing trucking’s carbon footprint.
“We will continue our commitment to this initiative by investing engineering resources to include more carriers in the survey, continuing to update and modify the survey, and conducting additional analysis in focus areas,” said Ben Cubitt, senior vice president of consulting and engineering for Transplace.
Other sponsors of the survey included PepsiCo Inc., the EPA, and carriers J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Con-way Inc., Western Express Inc., Smith Transport and Dart Transit Co.
The results were based on responses from 65 fleets, representing regional, national and private carriers. Of those fleets, 59 were SmartWay-certified.
Among the SmartWay initiatives that received mixed reviews were auxiliary power units, low-rolling-resistance tires, intermodal shipping and trailer side skirts.
Fleets rated four initiatives mostly below expectations for payback: single-wide tires, particulate-matter filters, emission control and vehicle battery systems for heating and cooling.
The least commonly implemented initiatives were nitrogen-filled tires, with one fleet; verified retrofit technologies, with two; advanced trailer end fairings, with three; and truck stop electrification, with seven.
Those SmartWay initiatives rated most difficult to implement were single-wide tires, auxiliary power units, weight reduction and driver training.
On new equipment purchases, fleets said they were most likely to order integrated roof fairings, aerodynamic bumpers, aerodynamic mirrors, engine-data recording sensors, cab side extenders, idling-reduction technology, fuel tank side fairings and low-rolling-resistance tires.
They were least likely to order nitrogen-filled tires, alternative fuel or natural gas equipment, hybrid trucks, hubcaps to reduce drag and advanced trailer end fairings.
