Heavy Duty Trucking, July 2015

FuelSmarts 4 Ways Hirschbach saves fuel Illinois based refrigerated fleet leaves no technology unturned in quest for efficiency Hirschbach has a maximum four year trade cycle so it can take advantage of the latest fuel efficient models with lightweight aerodynamic Third party supplier Velociti is handling the installation When we make a decision like this we like to see the benefit of the decision weve made as soon as possible Pinchuk says The company took a similar approach a few years ago in applying SmartTruck UT6 Plus trailer aerodynamic systems Generally Hirschbach is looking for a payback on these investments of 18 months or less 3 Use data to coach drivers Weve got a whole group of people who do nothing but analyze fuel economy Pinchuk says ECM downloads come in every four hours Those are used to update driver scorecards and more Weve got coaches who are monitoring this information and we work with our drivers on anything behavior wise they can do to impact fuel economy he says whether thats progressive shifting routing the specs and automated transmissions he explains Our trucks today are almost 2000 pounds less than what they used to be not too long ago Although so far testing has not shown 6x2 axles to be a good fit for the company because of traction issues Pinchuk says were not going to give up Were looking forward to testing Hendricksons new 6x2 with power to the rear axle Hendricksons OptiMaax features an automated liftable forward tandem axle 2 Retrofit aerodynamic add ons Hirschbach is not hesitant to do major retrofits Its latest project is the addition of FlowBelow Tractor Aerokits These devices use wheel covers and additional fairing pieces that fit between and behind the tractors tandems to smooth the flow of air and improve fuel economy Hirschbach piloted the technology on a small number of trucks to validate its effectiveness and durability before retrofitting the entire fleet By Deborah Lockridge Editor in Chief dlockridge@ truckinginfo com A t Hirschbach Motor Lines an 850 truck and growing refrigerated fleet based in East Dubuque Ill the goal is to become the most fuel efficient fleet in the trucking business while providing best in class service to our customers says President Brad Pinchuk While acknowledging that its a difficult goal to measure Pinchuk notes that the fleets better drivers regularly average 95 to 99 mpg and some of its best drivers can coax more than 10 mpg out of the companys newest trucks While there are a million and one ways the company attacks its goal here are a handful of Hirschbachs strategies 1 Spec the most fuel efficient equipment Hirschbachs strong relationships with truck and component OEs help it spec the most fuel efficient equipment for its operation and give it an advance peek at the latest technology Those relationships with Navistar and others have led the company to spec a new axle from Dana and get a retrofit calibration for its Cummins ISX engines that allows the trucks to use coast mode going downhill You build relationships with all these different people and you find really smart people who are involved in this Pinchuk says One of the specing tactics is to take out as much weight as possible www truckinginfo com JULY 2015 HDT 31 SPONSORED BY