Dallas-based Frozen Food Express Industries has reduced the maximum speed of its company-operated truck fleet from 65 to 62 mph in an effort to mitigate the impact of rising fuel costs.

FFEX expects that most of the independent contractors who provide it with trucks will take similar steps to reduce their expenses.

"This is a decision we've been contemplating for quite some time, and we simply have to take some definitive action, as many other carriers have already done, to offset costs that are rising faster than our ability to deal with them," said Russell Stubbs, senior vice president and chief operating officer. "Independent studies have found that for each mile per hour that a truck reduces its average speed, we can expect a 1/10th of a mile increase in that truck's average miles per gallon. This 3-mph decrease in maximum speed can save up to 1,000 gallons of fuel, per truck, per year."

Stubbs also notes that the company is an active members of the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership, and this initiative also helps reduce emissions along with fuel consumption. SmartWay is a partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency and businesses in the transportation industry, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption.

This will be an enterprise-wide effort across the FFE Transportation Group (FFE Transportation Services, American Eagle Lines, and Lisa Motor Lines brands), and customer service will not be impacted by this speed reduction. This action is one of several to address rising fuel prices, including enterprise-wide fuel consumption efforts, equipping tractors with anti-idling control devices and modifying equipment specifications to ensure the most aerodynamic fleet possible.