If the ultimate goal of electrification is to reduce emissions to improve air quality and reduce the impact of climate change, can the world afford to wait several years and possibly strike out?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no need to wait for electric vehicles (EVs), which currently account for a few percent of vehicles on the road and may own 30% of the new market<\/a> by 2030; change can happen right now, according to experts in the field of idle reduction technology (IRT). They believe much of the idling done by commercial vehicles can be eliminated through equipment and education, thus reducing\u00a0a large source of emissions.<\/p>\n \u201cBy investing in technologies and practices, fleets can reduce idle to well below 20%,\u201d asserted Mike Roeth, executive director for the North American Council on Freight Efficiency (NACFE), in the organization\u2019s 2019 Confidence Report on Idling. \u201cThe challenge is figuring out which set of technologies are best for you and being diligent in making it work.\u201d<\/p>\n The key is to reduce idling when the opportunity presents itself. For instance, trucks stuck in traffic could employ an engine start-stop system or utilize a bunk heater overnight in a Class 8 sleeper, which can noticeably reduce emissions today. Compare this to the planned adoption of EVs, which will represent only a tiny fraction of fleet emission reductions for many years. California, the most progressive state on emissions, is targeting 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025, representing 5% of the total 29 million vehicles. The state consumes 52 million gallons of fuel a day, and every gallon saved from idle reduction will not end up as greenhouse gases and PM.<\/p>\n There\u2019s financial motivation as well. Slashing idling lessens fleets\u2019 fuel and maintenance costs. It\u2019s also the law in 23 states, most notably California, with 18 of those states offering grants, loans, tax credits, or pilot programs to proliferate the technology.<\/p>\n The problem is so big, even these measures may not be enough. According to the Argonne National Laboratory, idling personal and commercial vehicles in the U.S. consume 6 billion gallons of fuel annually at a cost of $20 billion. Based on U.S. Energy Information Administration data, the U.S. used 47.2 billion gallons of diesel<\/a> and 142.7 billion gallons of gasoline<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n To people like Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the educational nonprofit Diesel Technology Forum, the best way to rally and achieve true transformative change is through incremental improvements.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not going to be the grand slams or home runs that win games; it’s consistently hitting singles and doubles,\u201d said Schaeffer, who has been in his role for more than 20 years. \u201cThat is exactly what the trucking industry has done over time.\u201d<\/p>\n Most notably, due to regulatory mandates, the heavy-duty sector eschewed the older engines that spewed black smoke for ultra-efficient powertrains with diesel particulate filters (DPFs) and exhaust gas recirculation<\/span> systems. From 2007 to 2019, Schaeffer estimated this change eliminated 126 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), 18 million metric tons of nitrogen oxides<\/a> (NOx), and 1 million metric tons of PM. It also saved 12.4 billion gallons of diesel.<\/p>\n The previous impact of idling, and its resulting emissions, can\u2019t all be eliminated, but with a balanced attack of technology and education, fleets can score some small victories each year. Fleet fuel costs are only the beginning.<\/p>\n NACFE found<\/a> a 10% annual reduction equals 1% in fuel economy, or $500 to $700 annually with $3\/gallon fuel prices and 100,000 miles\/year.<\/p>\n \u201cYou start adding up those little bitty changes, 1% or 2% here and there, and all of a sudden you\u2019re starting to get some real numbers,\u201d Schaeffer said. \u201cFactoring incremental improvements in things as simple as idle reduction across an entire fleet of vehicles, and those numbers start to run up into the millions [of dollars].\u201d<\/p>\n Reducing idling is also a strategy available to every fleet with fossil fuel vehicles \u2014 and one that can have dramatic results. Several technologies now exist to address these issues, with 83 verified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) SmartWay program.<\/p>\n The American Trucking Associations estimated that idling doubles the wear and tear on engine parts versus normal\u00a0driving and adds $2,000 per truck annually. Furthermore, utility company Altech found utility vehicles idle in park for 65% of their \u201cengine on\u201d time, and each hour equals an equivalent 25 miles of driving.<\/p>\n Infographic: Vima Alvarez | FleetOwner<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Successful fleet managers and owner-operators savor the \u201csmall ball\u201d aspect of trucking by looking at the data leveraging every edge.<\/p>\n On the road, this may include aerodynamic fairings, low rolling resistance tires, and high-efficiency powertrain yield. But if they overlook how much is spent idling, all that effort goes to waste.<\/p>\n This is the case when a long-haul trucker trades the driver\u2019s seat for the bunk and leaves the engine running to heat the cab. A stat often associated with Class 8 trucks fuel consumption is \u201c1 gallon consumed per hour of idling,\u201d though Schaeffer asserted that while that may have been true prior to modern EPA regulations on greenhouse gases, the latest engines use two-thirds or three-quarters of a gallon. \u201cBut still, that’s real fuel that costs real money, and real emissions are being created,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n And idling overnight (or day, depending on the shift) might not have been too bad when diesel was less than $2 a gallon, which last occurred in 2016. That\u2019s $16 for eight hours of sleep. This March, average U.S. diesel costs crossed the $3 threshold, a 60-cent jump from October 2020. In these conditions, a driver who sleeps 200 nights in a truck that uses three-fourths of a gallon will pay $3,600 for the heated slumber.<\/p>\n Bunk heaters, which have about a 70% take rate for Class 8 sleepers, according to leading manufacturers, use a fraction of a gallon for a whole night.<\/p>\n \u201cYou’re talking about pennies on the dollar in terms of return on investment per night,\u201d said John Dennehy, vice president of marketing and communications for Eberspaecher Climate Control Systems<\/a>. He noted the Espar Airtronic D2 bunk heater costs less than $2,000 and has evolved over four generations since 1997. The Airtronic gets 16 hours per gallon of diesel fuel.<\/p>\n Two years ago, Webasto, released the Air Top 2000 ST<\/a>C<\/a>, which consumes one gallon of diesel fuel every 22 hours. Saving at the pump is only the beginning.<\/p>\n The Webasto AirTop 2000STC<\/span>Photo: Webasto<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \u201cOur customers are finding if they are idling, it’s causing a second pain because excessive idle makes that DPF fail faster, or needs to be removed and cleaned or replaced,\u201d noted Don Kanneth, Webasto director of aftermarket sales for North America. He said just to get the DPF looked at can cost $500 and several thousand dollars to be replaced, in addition to incurring downtime. Because of that, Kanneth said day cabs that are often stationary are also employing air heaters.<\/p>\n Both companies also have coolant heaters, oil-fired devices that warm coolant and bring the engine up to 165 degrees F, as opposed to raising the temperature through traditional engine idling.<\/p>\n The Espar Hydronic 3 coolant heater weighs 6.5 lb. and has an output of 17,500 BTU+.<\/span>Photo: Eberspaecher<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \u201cA Webasto Thermo Top Evo, for example, can run for 10 hours on a single gallon of fuel,\u201d said Dan Erck, regional sales manager at Webasto. \u201cConsidering that you only need to operate the coolant heater for 30 to 40 minutes prior to engine startup depending on ambient temperature, this could save a fleet thousands of dollars in fuel costs alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Engine heaters also reduce DPF wear and tear. Webasto found that in a cold engine, the Thermo Top Evo removes 67% of particulate matter out of the air stream before it reaches the DPF. At 75 degrees F, that is a 40% reduction.<\/p>\n To run the air conditioning and other cab accessories, fleets can also rely on auxiliary power units (APUs). Diesel and electric APU options are available.<\/p>\n \u201cRunning a Tripac Evolution APU to provide the driver with cooling, heating, and tractor battery recharging uses about 80% less fuel than running the much larger tractor engine,\u201d said Jim Flaherty, Thermo King senior product manager for APUs. \u201cOver the standard life of an APU, this equates to about 12,500 gallons of diesel fuel saved and 127 metric tons of carbon dioxide avoided.<\/p>\n The Thermo King TriPac Evolution APU<\/span>Photo: John Hitch | FleetOwner<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n In total, Flaherty reported the annual Thermo King APUs shipped cut about 2.7 million metric tons from entering the atmosphere. These devices weigh about 500 lbs., and some states offer a GVWR exemption to offset the weight, so it does not count against payload.<\/p>\n In its idle report,\u00a0NACFE advised \u201cthe most efficient\u00a0and effective idle-reduction solution\u00a0for a\u00a0fleet entails\u00a0a combination of complementary\u00a0technologies\u00a0used together,\u201d such as bunk heaters and driver controls.<\/p>\n Owner-operator Bernie Gray can attest to that, as he has seen a huge difference by combining the Kenworth Idle Management System (KIMS), a driver control panel paired with four batteries under the passenger seat, and the Espar Airtronic.<\/p>\n His profit margin has reaped the benefits. The short hauler, who comes home on weekends, had spent $45,000 on fuel in 2018 with his 2017 W900, which had no idle reduction systems in place. In 2020, with the IRT combination, he spent $30,000.<\/p>\n In warmer weather, Gray does idle to \u201ccool the whole inside of the truck with the engine power to help save wear and tear on the KIMS.\u201d<\/p>\n While the 30-year trucking veteran is no longer a company driver, Gray said these are effective retention and recruitment tools. \u201cIf a company didn’t have that, then I don’t know if I could actually work for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While each driver can save big, the bigger the fleet, the more runs those small incremental changes can drive in. When George Survant was the senior fleet director at Time-Warner Cable, the private fleet comprising 19,000 light- and medium-duty commercial vehicles participated in a fuel research program in which the data loggers revealed 39% of the fuel burn was going to idling. And the fleet used 25 million gallons per year.<\/p>\n The fleet\u2019s Ford Transit Connect vehicles operating in Manhattan were getting 12 mpg, while normal city driving should have been closer to 22 mpg.<\/p>\n Survant, an expert in sustainable fleet strategies with more than 40 years in fleet management, installed start-stop engine technology in the vehicles, which shuts off the engine when the brake is fully depressed, such as at a stoplight.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time you take your foot off of that brake and go to the gas pedal, the engine is humming along nicely and off you go,\u201d Survant said. \u201cIt’s a little disconcerting the first time; you think [the vehicle has] stalled.\u201d<\/p>\n Other changes included engine control module reprogramming and switching to small-bore diesel engines.<\/p>\n By intermittently cutting idle time, Survant said the cable company\u2019s fleet saw\u00a0a noticeable difference, reducing fuel burn by 11% year over year. After the changes, even full-size pickups were getting 16 mpg.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was not only a proportionally huge amount of improvement but in terms of being able to keep the same payload, the same truck dimensions, that was a huge advantage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition to consulting, Survant now works in an advisory capacity with GoGreen Communications, a Canadian-based company that certifies fleets in idle reduction training, because “of its very well-crafted behavioral modification approach.”<\/p>\n One specific reason is that CEO Ron Zima appeals to fleet drivers by making them aware of the adverse effects of personal idling habits, which then seeps into their professional behavior.<\/p>\n At training sessions, Zima shares his own personal experience, explaining how he was a notorious idler himself, accruing 185 idle hours a year. This could be preheating his engine with a remote starter 40 minutes before the end of the workday, as well as outside of the hockey rink where his children practiced.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a parent, I noticed how much everybody was idling outside the school, and inside the school, my kids were learning about climate change, health, and math, and the exhaust was so bad,\u201d he recalled, adding the principal noticed the emissions from idling buses waiting to take the children home would make the faculty feel lightheaded.<\/p>\n He saw anti-idling laws were in place, but largely ignored. Zima worked in his own city with fleets at the ports and ground services, and within four months, he said idling was reduced by 40%.<\/p>\n Data is the first component to transformative change, as fleets first need to see the issue. Survant projected about 70% of fleets don\u2019t look at idling data. That\u2019s why installing telematics devices should be the first step.<\/p>\n In 2013, an idle-reduction advocate in Vermont named Wayne Michaud worked with the American Lung Association to get NexTraq GPS systems in Burlington, Vt.-based FairPoint Communications\u2019 fleet of 1,200 trucks. By measuring the data, training drivers, and following up with those who do not comply, the company reduced idling by 30%.<\/p>\n FairPoint would monitor excessive idling, and fleet trainers would coach drivers on when to turn the engine off, said Jay Mullen, operations manager at FairPoint, which is now Consolidated Communications.<\/p>\n Michaud also helped push for Vermont\u2019s anti-idling laws, which limit idling to under five minutes per hour. He currently runs Green Driving America, which focuses more on electrification.<\/p>\n The second component is education. Zima developed a program called \u201cIdle Free for our Kids for Fleets,\u201d <\/a>an online course that he said \u201cemotionally pulls drivers in like no other driver training, with values and messaging that they often respond passionately to.\u201d<\/p>\n Myth-busting is another tactic. Zima often has to explain idling creates more wear and tear than engine start\/stops. According to Cummins, idling leads to higher fuel contamination of lube oil and cylinder wall wear, contributing to a 20% engine life reduction.<\/p>\n He said vocational fleets have high completion rates in the program, which is fortunate for those managers, as Alltech found vocational fleets spend nearly two-thirds of engine time idling.<\/p>\n With as many people as he\u2019s trained, Zima pondered why the low-hanging fruit of idle reduction has not gotten more traction.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have this massive disconnect within the market right now,\u201d he said, with more industry attention and political juice going to the hope that \u201cEVs and electric trucks will save us in the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Zima added, idle reduction \u201cis not dependent on replacing vehicles to get a success rate that\u2019s measurable.\u201d<\/p>\n Survant also notes the benefits on the environment and air quality are indisputable. However,\u00a0the best way to inspire change in fleets is addressing the bottom line.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it’s going to melt the polar ice caps or not, I’m not enough of a scientist to know,\u201d he said. \u201cBut what I do know is idling improves the reliability of my fleet, reduces the amount of fuel I burn, and puts money back into the corporation.\u201d<\/p>\n \n By John Hitch<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n While the 2020s will see a greater focus on electrification, keeping a watchful gaze on idling behavior will have more immediate benefits for the environment, as well as fleet fuel and maintenance costs. The 2020s seem destined to be a decade dominated by grand ambition, where the transportation industry will swing for the fences with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[116],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10829"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10833,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10829\/revisions\/10833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Info](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/04\/info_idle_graphic.607453c6e19eb.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
<\/span><\/p>\nThe technology<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/03\/AirTop2000STC.604a416b1f2fc.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/03\/ECCS_Hydronic_3_37_small.604a398979c47.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/03\/tripac_evo_hitch.604a40eeb07ce.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
<\/span><\/p>\nRunning up the score<\/h3>\n
Changing hearts and minds<\/h3>\n
![\"Ron](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/03\/Idle_reduction_grads_2019_zima.604a45dbe5d63.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
Ron Zima (right), the self-proclaimed “Idle-Free Guy,” stands with the drivers of a fleet who just finished his idle-reduction certification program, “Idle-Free for Kids.”<\/span>Photo: Go Green Communications<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nCUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"