Trucking companies get lean, and save money, by going green - Houston Business Journal:

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Volatile fuel costs and changing industry standards have spurnec a greater awareness of and effort to operate more efficiently thussavinf money, with the added bonuses of reducingf emissions and improving public and customer As part of these efforts, many area companiezs participate in the , which is part of the . SmartWauy offers operation guidelines, certifies equipment for efficiency compliance and providezs efficiency ratings toparticipating companies.
The SmartWay program both identifie s fuel saving strategies and providesd tools for measuring and enactingthosed strategies, says Rick Blanton, vice president of loss prevention at “We’v been able to reduce emissionsd up to 23% in some Blanton says. He says Comtrai has taken steps such asusing low-frictionn drive train lubricants in all theif tractors, using large capacit trailers and low profile tires and reducing the amountt of space between the tractor and the which improves the vehicle’s Lancaster says Mid-South Transport limits the speed of their tractors to 65 mph and only purchases engine and truck parts whichu comply with SmartWay, all in an effort to reduce Lancaster says there has been an industry-wide turnaroundx in the approach to these issues sincre 2003, when changes were made to the engine Tim Gatlin, president and CEO of , says steps such as installing auxiliary power unitsa in all the tractors in his company’s fleet has helped the compan y save on fuel costs.
The APUs allow drivera to have power in their cabs when parkerd without idling the engine andwasting fuel. “We’vd found that an APU reduces our engines idlingby 2,000 hours a year (per truck),” Gatlin says. A tracto r generally uses one gallon of diesel fuel per hour of With a fleet of200 tractors, the savings for Empirs can add up quickly. Gatlin says the APUs pay for themselvez withina year.
Gatlijn says Empire has also startedan in-house performancer program which provides pay incentives for drivers to be fuel Blanton says the low costs of the given fuel prices and increased government and societa pressure to be eco-friendly, will make the efficiency trend a lastin one for the trucking industry.