Wal-Mart Hits 80% of Fuel-Efficiency Goal With Two Years Remaining, Executive Says
This story appears in the Oct. 21 print edition of Transport Topics.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A top executive at Wal-Mart Stores said the company has reached more than 80% of its goal of doubling the fuel efficiency of its transportation fleet by the end of 2015 from a decade earlier.
Speaking here at the University of Maryland, where he was recognized as supply chain “Person of the Year,” Chris Sultemeier, senior vice president of logistics, said he expects to close most of the remaining gap by taking delivery of more fuel-efficient diesel trucks over the next two years.
“The last 20% is definitely harder than the first 80%,” Sultemeier said in an interview with Transport Topics following a speech to students and faculty at the school’s annual Industry Day.
Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer.
Sultemeier said new trucks are getting more miles per gallon than older models, and truck manufacturers are promising even better fuel economy in the future.
Although Wal-Mart officials recently have declined to provide exact miles-per-gallon figures, they have said the fuel economy of the trucks in its private fleet improved between 15% and 20% since 2005.
When the goal was first announced, Wal-Mart set a goal of doubling fuel efficiency of its trucks to 13 mpg in 2015 from 6.5 mpg. Several years later, the company adopted a broader measure of efficiency, in which the number of cases shipped was measured against the number of miles traveled and gallons of fuel consumed.
Industrywide, most trucks built since 2010 have experienced a 3% to 5% improvement in fuel economy due, in part, to the use of more efficient emissions-control systems.
Last year, Daimler Trucks North America reported a test version of its 2014 model Cascadia Evolution truck averaged 9.3 mpg and that another tractor-trailer combination unit hit nearly 10.7 mpg on a test track.
To boost fuel economy, Sultemeier said, Wal-Mart installed auxiliary power units on all trucks. The diesel-powered APUs enable drivers to shut off the main engines in the trucks when they are parked.
The company also added side skirts to trailers to improve the aerodynamics, switched to nitrogen gas for tires and synthetic oil for engines and provided extra training to drivers.
“You hear that sustainability is in conflict with good business,” Sultemeier said. “Actually, it is complementary. There has been a dramatic impact on our bottom line because of sustainability.”
Wal-Mart Stores ranks No. 4 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America with 6,523 tractors and more than 61,000 trailers.
Sultemeier also said Wal-Mart continues to test alternative fuels, including compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and fuels made from waste grease and animal fats.
In 2009, the company converted 15 trucks at a distribution center in Buckeye, Ariz., to run on brown cooking grease, with the remaining trucks at the center operating on a 80/20 blend of biodiesel made of reclaimed yellow waste grease.
“It sounds neat,” Sultemeier said, “but it’s not a scalable solution.”
The company also has been testing trucks with diesel-electric hybrid power systems, including a truck with wheel-end hybrid assist and a full propulsion model that is designed to operate up to 40 mph on battery power with a diesel-powered engine providing power at higher speeds.
“It works,” Sultemeier said of the full-propulsion hybrid truck, “but with 2,000 pounds of batteries, it’s not scalable.”
He expressed a similar concern about the weight of fuel tanks on natural gas-powered trucks. The tanks, which can weigh several thousand pounds, take away from the carrying capacity of trucks and reduce fuel economy, he said.
“We’ve had some success with CNG and LNG,” Sultemeier said. “Natural gas can make sense for some applications, and we are actively evaluating its performance and return on investment in our operations.”
The company has experienced some maintenance issues with natural gas-powered trucks, he said, without providing specifics.
Wal-Mart launched its largest test of LNG at a distribution center in Apple Valley, Calif., in 2009. In 2012, the company took delivery of a Cummins Westport ISX 12-liter engine powered by CNG and is operating it in Fontana, Calif.
Sultemeier said that while the company continues to try to boost fuel economy of its trucks, total fleet efficiency is measured in terms of the volume of goods delivered and the miles traveled.
“Since 2008, we have delivered 335 million more cases and driven 300 million miles less,” he said.
Those results were achieved primarily by using routing and optimization programs to reduce the length of delivery routes and by improving loading techniques. Wal-Mart also worked with suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging material used to transport products, which allows more goods to be loaded into trailers, Sultemeier said.
