Pen Power

Gee whiz, I didn’t know I wielded such power. Mere weeks after I wrote in this space that Ottawa’s then-new policy on environmental matters was a joke and that former Environment Minister Rona Ambrose didn’t deserve her job, she lost it (see “Rona’s Folly”, click on Related story link below). Not only did she get turfed in Steven Harper’s recent cabinet shuffle, but he also did a near 180 and now says the environment is a priority for his government.

Boy, am I good. Shows you just how much power a pen can wield. And a trucking pen at that.

Well, OK, a trucking pen plus a few opinion polls and a gazillion other critics screaming blue murder that the Harper regime had missed the mark on this one. Grudgingly, I have to give the Ottawa bunch credit for getting the message and reacting to it. Even if they clearly don’t know the issues. In the end I don’t care what they know or even what they believe; I only care about what they do.

I think that Canadians, while very few of us are bona fide tree-huggers with memberships in the Sierra Club and solar panels adorning our roofs, really do want to see some ­significant sort of environmental action at a national policy level. And increasingly, we seem to believe the overwhelming body of science that says our planet is at risk. Some folks say it’s already too late, of course, but nobody of a credible sort says our concerns are bunk any longer. Except the guy who says methane from cow farts is the real global-warming culprit. I kinda like that guy.

So what do we do? How far beyond the blue box can we go? And if we run a fleet of one truck or a thousand, what options are there?

Well, if you’re operating trucks you clearly start with fuel use, but how many outfits really expend much effort on this front? How many actively manage fuel use aside from chastising drivers who manage 6.1 instead of 7.9 mpg? How many think bigger than that?

Winnipeg’s Bison Transport does, starting with idle-reduction technologies, recycling programs, efficient routing practices, and using the latest fuel-stingy equipment. Go to the company’s website and you’ll see this statement: “At Bison Transport, we believe it is our responsibility to preserve the environment that we live in.”

As well as doing the obvious, like spec’ing auxiliary power units to reduce idling and minimizing empty miles, Bison’s business practices include encouraging employees to ride a bike to work and use hand dryers instead of paper towels. And then there’s training, of course, namely a fuel-oriented course that all drivers must take — a course that produces a substantial fuel-economy gain of two percent.

Bison isn’t the only Canadian fleet doing such things, of course, but it really should be every fleet.

And if you thought we’d gone as far as we can in terms of building fuel-efficient trucks, consider this: aerodynamic improvements can still yield something nearing a 20-percent more ‘slippery’ vehicle. And that can mean more than a couple of percentage points at the pump.

International, Freightliner, Mack, and Volvo recently showed off the results of aerodynamic research done during a two-year partnership that also involved trailer maker Great Dane and the U.S. Department of Energy.

International says it’s developed systems and devices that reduce the drag of class 8 tractor-trailer applications by 14 percent. Remember that about half the fuel a truck uses goes to overcoming aerodynamic drag at highway speeds.

During the development program, managed by the Truck Manufacturers Association, International and Great Dane developed a full-scale experimental aerodynamic trailer for Wal-Mart.

They focused on the three major sources of aerodynamic drag: the tractor-trailer gap, trailer sides, and trailer wake.

Freightliner, owning the only full-scale wind tunnel on the continent, produced specific design guidelines that will benefit existing and future heavy-duty trucks. Their engineers paid particular attention to mirror and mirror-mounting systems. Believe it or not, they learned that even today’s best-designed mirrors can affect aerodynamics by as much as six percent or more. Amazing.

Equally amazing is the news that ArvinMeritor and Wal-Mart Transportation have agreed to development of a dual-mode, diesel-electric drivetrain for a class 8 tractor. The vehicle, thought to be the first dual-mode diesel electric tractor prototype being developed in North America, will be based on an International ProStar tractor powered by a Cummins engine.

Chances are, your operation isn’t quite big enough to support that sort of effort, but the logic behind it applies to everyone: saving fuel saves money and does at least a little — maybe a lot — to save our environment. You can bet your bottom loonie that Wal-Mart wouldn’t be down this road if it didn’t make financial sense.