Heavy Duty Trucking, January 2018

HDT JANUARY 2018 82 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Rolf Lockwood Executive Contributing Editor rolf@ newcom ca river training is a subject dear to my editorial heart but I fear we dont do it well enough For one thing the focus of training is almost always on making sure truck pilots dont go agricultural too often or infinitely worse whack the aged librarians Toyota Safety is obviously paramount but theres more to it Think fuel economy The PIT Group in Quebec Canada recently released a driver training effectiveness study exploring the true value of driver monitoring and coaching to address bad habits and reinforce efficient techniques PIT is a research and engineering outfit focused on improving truck specing maintenance and operations practices It has both supplier and fleet members many of them in the U S and it often works with NACFE the North American Council for Freight Efficiency It operates a full bore test track north of Montreal PITs study suggests that training to promote driver fuel efficiency and safety is only effective if it includes refresher courses to reinforce good practices and address weaknesses While vehicle technology designed to improve fuel economy continues to advance driver training is the element that has the largest impact on fuel consumption says Yves Provencher director market and business development at PIT Group Our studies show that various ways to train drivers including classroom in cab and simulator training all have their advantages However the lessons and techniques they teach dont last without monitoring behaviors he continued Providing refresher training and in vehicle coaching technologies that address bad habits and reinforce effective skills is whats needed to maintain and improve fuel efficient and safe performance In one study of long haul operations PIT compared 47 control and 38 test drivers before and after simulator training that focused on things such as road and engine speed acceleration and more Baselines were established over two months before the 38 test drivers were trained Afterwards evaluations were done at one three six and nine months The largest impacts on fuel consumption Cruise control proper acceleration and maintaining the correct engine and road speed With monitoring and communication the data show that a driver operating a truck an average of 156000 miles per year could save 3170 gallons of fuel PIT said Another test illustrated the virtues of automated manual transmissions A group of 35 regional haul drivers were monitored for nine months including 22 operating a manual transmission and 13 an AMT Drivers with manual transmissions would shift in the most fuel efficient range 1000 to 1400 rpm 55 of the time while AMT drivers were in the most efficient range 78 of the time Average engine speed for manual drivers was 1316 rpm versus 1240 rpm for drivers with AMTs The overall result was a 5 fuel savings in favor of automated manuals We kinda knew that What these and other studies tell us is that training is only effective if it is reinforced with new ideas and structured to include regular reminders Provencher said Many companies make the mistake of providing the same training year after year without focusing on weaknesses or adding new ideas to make the lessons more interesting and effective In the end the type of training really doesnt matter as much as the monitoring that takes place afterward And that is a strong vote in favor of data analysis a topic for another day The coaching cant stop Rolf Lockwood is vice president editorial at Newcom Business Media which publishes Todays Trucking He writes for HDT each month on the making maintaining and using of trucks He can be reached at rolf@ newcom ca or 416 315 1829 LOCKING IT IN Many companies make the mistake of providing the same training year after year without focusing on weaknesses or adding new ideas D