The North American Council for Freight Efficiency is looking for 10 fleets to take part in its new Run on Less Regional fuel economy demonstration.

The event will showcase how fuel-efficient regional fleets can be, despite their operating on shorter routes with more stop-and-go cycles and with tractors-trailers not necessarily optimized for aerodynamics and fuel-efficient operation. 

The Run on Less Regional demonstration launches Oct. 8 at several U.S. and Canadian locations and will conclude Oct. 27 at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta.

"In Run on Less 2017, we were able to demonstrate that fleets operating in real world conditions could achieve 10.1 MPG on a consistent basis," said Mike Roeth, executive director at NACFE, at a press conference held in Atlanta this week ahead at the annual meeting of The Maintenance and Technology Council. "But long haul is only one part of the truck market and we want to see just how fuel-efficient regional haul fleets are, given the challenges they face."

To qualify, trucks should remain within 300 miles more or less of their home terminal. That's not a limit to the length of haul, per se, but indicative of an operation that would normally see less time at highway speed than a long-haul truck, but with fewer stop-and-go cycles than a city P&D operation.

"We are looking for fleets operating a wide variety of regional haul applications and duty cycles, but we are also committed to high MPG," said Dave Schaller, NACFE’s industry engagement manager.

Fleets interested in participating should go to the Run on Less Regional website to fill out an application. Roeth noted that manufacturers should encourage fleets that they think exemplify high MPG in regional haul to apply for the event.

"This is real freight, real trucks, real drivers and real routes," Roeth said. "We'll be collecting real-time data from the trucks as well as weather conditions, etc. We want to get the best possible picture of the various types of operation.”

He added that trucks will be permitted to use “any fuel-saving technology that currently on the market -- except fully electric vehicles."

The Run on Less Regional event is being sponsored by such suppliers as Shell, PepsiCo, and Geotab have signed on as sponsors. Regional sponsorship opportunities still exist; anyone interested may contact Mike Roeth at mike.roeth@nacfe.org.

More information on the Run on Less Regional event, including access to the application to participate, can be found at the event website.