Truckers see the SmartWay to ship freight, are rewarded by the EPA
There is most certainly an environmental trucker movement out there. Just ask Willie Nelson or Carl Cornelius. Sure, these biodiesel advocates can couch their arguments in terms of the American farmer or energy independence, but reduced CO2 emissions are reduced CO2 emissions. And the EPA knows it. The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday paid attention to green trucking companies for their "superior environmental excellence" with an award ceremony today at the American Trucking Associations annual conference in Grapevine, Texas. The EPA and companies in the freight industry have partnered up in the SmartWay Transport Partnership. The Partnership is a way to reduce energy consumption through changing habits and by using new technologies. These technologies should be familiar to AutoblogGreen readers (low rolling resistance tires, reducing engine idling, etc.) and have helped the 450 companies in SmartWay save $1.2 billion in energy costs and stopped four million tons of CO2 from getting into the air we breathe. The EPA estimates that by 2012, annual reductions from the SmartWay program will be between 33 and 66 tons of emitted CO2.
A full list of companies receiving the EPA awards can be found here.
[Source: EPA]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike Sandone 5:42PM (1/27/2008)
Need more information on the APU offer i've heard about
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TruckingInHighGear 12:35PM (6/13/2008)
Great work Doug and Byrd!
I am also working on tractor aerodynamics. I estimate an 8% to 11% airflo enhancement on tractors only.
A trucking co. owner stated that they were more interested in tractor improvements than trailer since trailers are idle 50% or more of the time.
I'd like to collaborate with other like designers as this is a whole new ball-of-wax in an uncharted industry (add-on aftermarket aerodynamic components).
God Bless all!
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Howard Lee Harkness 4:29PM (11/02/2006)
One simple change that would greatly reduce fuel usage would be to repeal the laws that make it ILLEGAL to ship an intact tractor-trailer rig by rail.
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MikeW 1:52PM (11/05/2006)
Here, here Mr. Harkness.
It makes more sense to ship via rail, the speeds are lower so the aerodynamic drag is much less. So to make up the defecit, the train runs 24/7, the truck driver has so many rules about awake hours, drive hours, off hours, etc.
No tire pressure to worry about.
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Doug Byrd 9:38PM (10/13/2007)
Corporate trucking industries and manufacturers only care about the bottom line, money. A project my friend and I are trying to get off the ground involves reducing wind drag on currently used van trailers. A prototype utility trailer ran for over six months and showed an average gain of .7 mpg in "real world" tests. Trailer manufacturers when contacted remarked, "if we can attach the system in less than 15 minutes, we're interested." So if it costs $4,497.00 installed and provides a return on investment of $1,595.00 the very first year and over $6,000.00 each year after (based on fuel prices of $2.80 per gal.) do the fleet managers need a class in basic math? I think so.
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