Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 - (Page 34)

costs, cut air pollutants, and eliminate 19 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, per vehicle. To realize these savings, many truckers are equipping their tractors with idle shutdown switches. It’s important to adjust the timing on these switches correctly to achieve maximum fuel efficiency, says Miller. “When we first put these on our trucks at Con-way Freight, we set them to shut down after 10 minutes,” he says. “Then we moved it to five minutes and recently moved all the way down to three minutes.” To avoid having the engine shut down while sitting in traffic, the timer can be reset by physically tapping the accelerator. “What we are trying to do is avoid the unnecessary idling that takes place when somebody pulls into a parking lot or a shipper’s yard and runs in to find out where to back in,” he says. Often drivers are reluctant to shut down their engines in very cold weather. This is especially true for drivers who have to sleep in the cab. To address that problem, Schneider now specs all of its tractors with diesel-fired cab heaters, says Damman. “These heaters use one-tenth the fuel of an idling diesel engine so they significantly save on fuel while also providing drivers with a warm environment for sleeping.” Schneider also has worked to better insulate its trucks so less heat needs to be generated, he says. Idling is not only an issue for trucks. Railroads, which also participate in SmartWay, are working to reduce locomotive idling time. “More than half of our current fleet and all of our new locomotives are equipped with automatic start/stop,” says Mark Stehly, assistant vice president for environmental issues at BNSF, Fort Worth, Texas. Idle control for locomotives is a little more complicated, however, since large locomotive engines can be harder to restart. Software in the automatic start/stop devices senses outside temperature and battery condition to determine whether the locomotive will restart if it is shut down, Stehly explains. “Generally, if the temperature is above 40 degrees, the engine will shut down after a set time, typically 15 minutes.” At least one engine is kept running to ensure that the brakes don’t lose air pressure, he adds. Many other techniques also are being employed to make equipment more fuel efficient. “We work with our engine suppliers to define the best way to set up our engines,” says Damman. “We look at where we should add limiters to road speed, what are the best torque and horsepower curves for getting the most efficiency, how we should limit the engines in certain gears to promote better shifting by the drivers—all to save fuel and reduce emissions.” Schneider also is working on a batteryoperated air conditioning system to keep its drivers cool during hot weather without using fuel. “We have been developing this with a couple of suppliers and working as well with our tractor OEMs,” he says. “We’ve made a lot of progress and we believe that in six months to a year we will have a zero-emission technology to provide air conditioning in the truck cab. We are pretty excited about that.” Ryder System, Miami, has launched a RydeGreen line of tractors in partnership with Freightliner, coupled with specially configured trailers from Great Dane and Utility. Fuel and emissions saving features on the The winds of change are blowing. 34 MARCH 2008

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Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008 Editorial GL & SCS Exclusive FastForward Up Front The Green in Green Think Inside the Box Have a Second Look Can't Happen Here Opinion: Stay in the Black as Your Workforce Fades to Gray Opinion: Four Critical Steps to Managing Change in the Supply Chain Industry Voices

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - March 2008

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