Meat + Poultry - May 2008 - 64

Land O'Frost Inc. operates its own fleet of trucks for delivering
products to customers requiring less than a full truckload of product.
(Photo courtesy of Land O'Frost)

Rising fuel costs are affecting the bottom line in every industry and forcing carriers to improve efficiency. As a result,
many carriers are placing a greater emphasis on fuel economy. "For example, it is said that for every mile-per-hour a
tractor travels more than 55 mph, its miles-per-gallon decreases by one-tenth a mile," Meier says. "If a truck travels at 65
mph and drives 100,000 miles per year, it would use 3,334
more gallons of fuel compared to the same truck traveling
at 55 mph. With diesel fuel at $4 per gallon, that would cost
a company nearly $13,336 annually in added expenses for
diesel for just one truck. Multiply that times the number of
trucks in a carrier's fleet and you can see why they are putting a focus on fuel efficiency."
Cargill challenges its carriers to be more efficient, and it
recently began working with a SmartWay program - a voluntary partnership between numerous carriers, shippers and
the Environmental Protection Agency that allows all parties
to reduce fuel consumption.
The company continually evaluates its internal processes and identifies where it could eliminate waste in its supply chain. "One example of this is increasing our weight per

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truck," Meier says. "We encourage our customers to buy full
truckloads so we can maximize equipment utilization and
reduce costs. This translates to less-frequent deliveries, which
also improves supply-chain efficiency. Additionally, Cargill
optimizes product sourcing to cost-effectively meet our customer's requirements."
CMS has also installed auxiliary power units on its fleet
of trucks. An APU runs the climate control for the truck
driver during vehicle downtime without having to run the
engine. This reduces idle time, uses less fuel and extends
engine life, Meier says.
The company also gains efficiencies by using a transportation management system. This has many tools, one of which
is an automated route optimizer to ensure routes meet customers' requirements while limiting cost. "Another is visibility
so that we can provide continuous opportunities for our carriers to utilize Cargill's network to improve equipment utilization and reduce costs," Meier says. "Cargill has a large freight
footprint throughout North America and the world and this
provides us with many opportunities to improve supply-chain
efficiency for our customers and carriers. These actions will

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Meat + Poultry - May 2008

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