Trucking along: Keeping the economy (and the environment) in check
We have increasing demands of the fleets on the road, so here are some of the ways they might save costs and emissions as they deliver.
🚚 TL;DR
Trucks are a mainstay of consumer demand. They carry over 70% of goods in the US and EU, and reach last-mile locations which are inaccessible by ship, rail, or plane. Input costs for the industry are rising, as are expectations around sustainability. Luckily, innovations in design and operations are increasing efficiency, and as a result reducing costs and emissions.
*This article focuses on heavy duty trucks, which are the largest trucks you see on the road.
⛽ What are the main costs for trucks today?
Fuel costs are typically the largest expense for trucking companies. Just like with cars, the cost of fuel has been spiking in the past year. In the USA, fuel prices for trucks were reported as 35.4% higher in 2021 than 2020.
Other costs include labour, maintenance, and insurance.
Increasingly, trucks are being blamed for high levels of pollution in cities, and face taxes and air pollution charges.
🌫️ Are these fines justified? How bad are trucks for the environment?
Because of their size, they punch far above their weight when it comes to pollution.
They are less than 5% of the vehicles on the road, but account for 22% of EU and 30% of USA road transport emissions. They also release high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) which can cause pulmonary, skin, and eye problems.
Trucks also account for almost a fifth of global oil demand, which creates further emissions for production and transportation of oil to filling stations.
What is the driving force behind the environmental changes?
⚖️ Regulation is coming (as usual)
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks as of the end of 2022. Beginning with model year 2027, the new standards are more than 80% stronger than current ones.
As of February 2023, the European Commission has proposed an accelerated plan which would decrease CO2 emissions per km from new HDV by 45% emissions from 2030 as compared to 2019
15 countries — including Canada, the United Kingdom, Chile and New Zealand — announced during COP26 that they will work toward 100% zero-emission new heavy-duty truck and bus sales by 2040
🛣️ Manufacturers are at a fork in the road
Daimler Trucks, the world’s biggest truck manufacturer plans to end development of internal combustion engines for trucks in the next 15 years
Volvo, Scania, Man, and other truck manufacturers are also following suit
👛 Customers are putting their foot on the accelerator
Amazon was the biggest shareholder in Rivian, an electric truck company, before its IPO in 2021
Delivery services UPS and the US Postal Service are investing in electric trucks as they rotate older models out of their fleets
🪫 The obvious question: can’t we just make all trucks electric like we’re aiming for with passenger vehicles?
Not just yet.
The race for electrified trucks is falling into two camps: battery electric vehicles vs hydrogen-fuel cell electric vehicles.
Both are in development but large challenges loom such as high upfront costs (which can theoretically be recouped through fuel savings), and needing special high-performance charging infrastructure. Adding charging times to driver hours also adds costs to the fleet operator.
For electric trucks, another key issue is that the battery can be up to a quarter of the total weight of the truck. This reduces available freight space (and margins), and requires a special weight license to be allowed on main roads.
For hydrogen-based trucks, the challenge is that their upfront costs can be double those of electric trucks. Hydrogen fuel cell trucks also require up to 3x more renewable electricity to drive it the same distance as a BEV due to the more complex energy conversion process to create hydrogen. What’s working in their favour however is they can support longer ranges, heavier payloads, and faster refuelling.
🌎 So what are the options for making the trucking industry more economically, and in the process more environmentally, efficient today?
Let’s split this into 1) innovations for trucks and 2) innovations for operations.
⚙️ Innovations for trucks
Increased efficiency + decreased vehicle drag = reduced fuel costs (and emissions)
Efficient engines: Modern truck engines often include advanced fuel-saving features such as start/stop technology and regenerative braking. They are also starting to utilize alternative fuel sources, such as biodiesel [more on this later]
Improved tires: Potential improvements include more durable treads, as are being developed by Goodyear, or reducing rolling resistance (drag) as in development by Michelin.
Aerodynamic design: A 10% reduction in vehicle weight can result in a 6%-8% fuel economy improvement. Changes include swapping cast iron and traditional steel components with lightweight materials such as high-strength steel and alloys. Drag can be reduced by curving the edges of the chassis or adding a special coating of paint.
Carbon capture: This is a very new field for the carbon industry, and here US-based Remora is developing a device to retrofit onto semi-trucks to capture emissions directly from the tailpipe. In the future, carbon credits will be sold to offset the cost of the device.
🌐 Operations
Big data + proactive maintenance = reduced wastage (and costs)
Freight loading: Estimates are that trucks have as much as 20% of their time as ‘empty miles’ when they aren’t carrying freight, wasting time and money. Here companies like Flock Freight are finding and filling trucks’ empty spaces to move goods with more accuracy, and fewer costs and emissions.
Route optimization: AI is being used to help find fuel-efficient routes that factor in real-time traffic, road conditions, and weather.
Automation: Self-driving trucks are in development. As well as in-built route optimization, they will be able to more efficiently use cruise control, reducing the amount of fuel used to maintain a certain speed. Driving fewer miles will lead to cost savings and reduced emissions.
Fleet maintenance: Proactive monitoring of trucks helps to prevent problems before they happen, therefore automating fleet operations tasks are becoming inbuilt into trucks.
Financing: Trucks are a big investment, so Zeti has created a digital financing platform to combine real-time data on investment and environmental performance of fleets.
⏩ The next generation of trucking is upon us, creating an exciting future where hauling goods can be more cost effective and less environmentally damaging. Stay tuned for an interview with Lori Dunn at Optimus Technologies, with a ready-available solution to transform diesel-guzzling trucks into biodiesel users instead.