Heavy Duty Trucking, November 2018

NOVEMBER 2018 HDT 59 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM mpg and load factor to make the most out of every mile its trucks drive and out of each gallon of biodiesel its trucks use Its also incorporating compressed natural gas trucks and adding trailer skirts and is partnering with the University of Pittsburghs Swanson School of Engineering to research and develop electric vehicles Smokey Point Distributing Arlington Washington When youre an open deck carrier your aerodynamic options are fewer Smokey Point has only 225 trucks but it employs a fuel efficiency specialist whose primary role is to analyze fuel efficiency and improve productivity Idle time is a key focus and equipment has APUs diesel fired bunk heaters and 5 minute idle shutdown timers A monthly newsletter spotlights drivers with the least amount of idle time Close attention is paid to transmission and rear difference gear ratios as well as tire size when specing new equipment Sheehy Mail Contractors Waterloo Wisconsin This U S postal contractor continues to push adoption of compressed natural gas with 85 out of its 104 trucks now powered by CNG Sheehy has worked to get over 90 of its miles run on CNG The CNG fleet has logged over 50 million miles running mostly long haul since 2013 and is currently running 12 million miles per year on CNG Sheehy says it has proven CNG can work in longer haul operations and the brand it has built around alternative energy leads to better relationships with both customers and employees System Freight Inc Jamesburg New Jersey SFI continues to work on incremental gains in fuel mileage each year for its nearly 400 trucks through strategies such as idle reduction governed speeds downsped engines low rolling resistance tires and fuelefficient synthetic lubes with a current average of 749 mpg It has begun to adopt new predictive cruise control technology and Detroits Intelligent Power Management with rear end gear oil management New 12 speed automated transmissions are paired with rear end ratios to keep trucks in the sweet spot And its ordered 33 new Mack High Efficiency Engines with turbo compounding Payload on dedicated fleet trucks is optimized using wedge trailers and lightweighting for 52000 pound loads And SFI has cut empty mileage to all time lows by growing fleet density in the Northeast Transport Corporation of America Eagan Minnesota Running all its 1250 heavy trucks on biodiesel blends is just one of the ongoing initiatives at the for hire carrier to lower its carbon footprint Over the past year it has scored the highest rankings in all six EPA SmartWay categories The company has been working with customers to maximize payloads to cut waste and run fewer miles So far in 2018 it has increased fuel and route compliance by Pitt Ohio formed a sustainability steering committee in 2011 Smokey Point Distributing may have fewer aero options as an open deck fleet but thats not stopping it from focusing on fuel efficiency and productivity System Freight Inc continues to improve its fuel economy specs and also targets freight efficiency through lightweighting Sheehy Mail Contractors continues to be a leader in adoption of natural gas fuel for its trucks