AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By Danny King October 19, 2011
Drivers of heavy-duty trucks may boost fuel efficiency by as much as 22 percent by changing their driving and idling habits, according to a survey of almost 700 U.S. truck drivers. The survey results indicate that truck-driver training may have as much of an impact at cutting greenhouse-gas emissions as powertrain improvements and vehicle weight reductions. Such fuel economy improvements may save commercial truck operators more than $12,500 a year per truck, according to a report by San Diego-based SmartDrive Systems, whose products track individual driving habits for fleet operators. After two months of eco-driving training, the average driver surveyed by SmartDrive improved his fuel efficiency to 6.73 miles per gallon from 5.92 miles per gallon, the company said in the report.
The drivers who finished in the top 25 percentile of fuel economy reached about 8 miles per gallon, up 22 percent from what those drivers achieved prior to training. SmartDrive, which used sensors and recorders to track the drivers' habits and provide real-time feedback that the drivers use to adjust their methods accordingly, concluded that 80 percent of fuel waste stems from hard accelerations, hard braking, hard turning and the inability to maintain a constant speed, while the other 20 percent of waste comes from excessive idling. Tools such as on-board G-force sensors and GPS devices provided driving information, while on-board color coded LED light bars let the driver know if his or her driving was ecologically good (green), so-so (amber) or poor (red).
SmartDrive, which started the study in May 2011, said that, prior to training, the typical truck driver made a hard acceleration every 15 minutes, hit the brakes hard every 22 minutes and turned hard about once an hour. "The greatest opportunity in fuel efficiency comes from the way a vehicle is operated, particularly hard driving maneuvers," SmartDrive said in the report. "Identifying inefficient driving habits and reinforcing best practices leads directly to improved performance and reduced operating costs."
Public entities and private companies alike are looking to find ways to boost fuel economy for heavy-duty trucks, especially as fuel prices rise, because those trucks tend to be driven far more each year and provide far lower fuel economy than cars and light-duty trucks. Almost 101,000 medium- and heavy-duty hybrid trucks will be sold worldwide in 2017, up from less than 10,000 this year, green-technology research firm Pike Research said in a report last month. North America will account for about a quarter of the hybrid commercial truck sales in 2017, while Asia Pacific will make up more than 40 percent.
Such hybrid trucks are geared to meet more stringent greenhouse-gas emissions requirements. In August, President Obama announced the first-ever fuel-economy standards for work trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles. The rules, which cover the 2014-2018 model years, require: big-rigs to achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions by model year 2018; heavy-duty pickups and vans up to a 15 percent reduction; and, vocational vehicles (including delivery trucks, buses and garbage trucks) up to a 10 percent reduction. Under the new national program, the model year 2014-2018 trucks and buses are estimated to reduce oil consumption by a projected 530 million barrels and greenhouse-gas pollution by approximately 270 million metric tons.
Still, the SmartDrive results will likely intensify the debate over whether federal regulations or increased driver training is the best way to boost truckers' fuel efficiency. Independent trucker Scott Grenerth, speaking in a Congressional hearing last week on a panel that included Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl, said certain greenhouse-gas emissions standards would be especially onerous for truckers because high fuel-efficiency requirements increase the average price of a new truck and force manufacturers into using powertrain technologies that are newer, less proven and may cost truckers more in the long term because of additional repairs and time out of service. Better training is a far better bet, he said. "With diesel at close to $4 a gallon, if I don't drive in a fuel-efficient manner, I'll drive myself out of business," Grenerth said. "Trucking will take every opportunity to improve efficiency without government mandates."
Danny King: is a frequent contributor to AutoObserver.com.
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