11/20/2009  ATRI Finds Fuel, Emissions Savings on Longer Routes

The American Transportation Research Institute has found that a truck can use less fuel and emit fewer emission traveling a slightly longer route with higher average speeds, compared to traveling on a route with lower speeds, numerous speed limit changes and traffic signals.

he findings came out of a simulation modeling study and an analysis on the potential energy and emissions impacts of expanding the federal gross vehicle weight exemption to additional portions of the Maine Interstate system.

ATRI, which is the research arm of the American Trucking Associations, compared the operation of a vehicle weighing 100,000 pounds over two different routes, including an Interstate route and a state highway route. According to the analysis, ATRI reported trip-specific fuel efficiency improvements of 14 to 21 percent when traveling over the Interstate route. Emissions were also cut by 6 to 11 percent for carbon dioxide and 3 to 8 percent for particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and NMHC.

"This research quantifies how the mutual goals of resource conservation and emission reductions could be advanced by allowing Maine to apply state weight laws to its Interstate highways," said Mike Card, president of Combined Transport, Inc. and a member of ATRI's Board of Directors.

A link to the full report, which was prepared for the Maine Department of Transportation, can be found at www.atri-online.org.





Environment: Related News

2/5/2010 - Obama Announces Comprehensive Plan For Clean Energy At a meeting with a bipartisan group of governors, President Barack Obama laid out plans to boost biofuels production and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.... More >

1/27/2010 - TMC Transportation Taps RIDE Grant TMC Transportation has received a $680,500 grant through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Reduce Iowa's Diesel Exhaust (RIDE) program.... More >

1/26/2010 - Trucking Coalition, DOT to Sponsor Green Truck Webinar The latest in environmental issues and green technologies will be highlighted in a Feb. 11 webinar hosted by the Trucking Industry Mobility and Technology Coalition.... More >

1/21/2010 - UPS Adds 245 CNG Trucks to Fleet UPS has tapped 245 new delivery trucks powered by compressed natural gas, which will be used in cities in Colorado and California.... More >

1/20/2010 - GE Capital Processes Over $2.5 Million in Hybrid, Alternative Fuel Rebates GE Capital Fleet Services has processed more than $2.5 million in rebates for customers as part of the Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Vehicles Rebate Program in 2009.... More >

1/19/2010 - Barriers to Commercialization Still Exist For Hybrid Truck Industry Hybrid drivetrain technology has the potential to improve fuel economy by 20 to 50 percent on medium- and heavy-duty trucks. The technology can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and smog-forming pollutants by the same percentage. With such benefits to the trucking industry, why is the hybrid truck industry still in an early stage, almost 10 years behind the market introduction of passenger hybrids?... More >

1/12/2010 - U.S. Shells Out $187 Million For Fuel Efficiency Projects U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu has announced a more than $187 million investment in nine projects aimed at improving fuel efficiency in heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles.... More >

1/11/2010 - UPS' Eaton Delivery Hybrids Get Nod From the Feds For Fuel Economy A year-long evaluation of the hybrid-electric step delivery vans used by UPS yielded about a 29 percent improvement in fuel economy, which averaged about 13 miles per gallon, according to analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Funded by the DOE's Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity (AVTA), NREL's Fleet Test & Evaluation (FT&E) team evaluated six of these hybrid vans at a UPS location in Phoenix over the last 12 months... More >

1/11/2010 - Study Points to Emerging Truck Technologies As Fuel Savers Fuel consumption on new tractor-trailers could be lowered by 20 percent starting in 2012 and as much as 50 percent in 2017 through the use of such emerging technologies as engine improvements, transmission enhancements, better aerodynamics and changes in systems... More >