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Truckers: Don't Let Your Profits Go Up in Smoke
Tech. & Trans. R&D Team |
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| According to estimates by Argonne National Laboratory, the average long-haul truck idles away up to $1,790 in profits each year. Instead of letting their engines idle, operators of class 7 and 8 trucks should consider using separate devices for cab heating and cooling and engine-block warming.
Actual savings will depend greatly on individual circumstances. Operators can figure their own savings by using a worksheet available from Argonne.
Auxiliary devices are efficient, inexpensive to operate, and readily available. Using them could reduce annual fuel costs by over $1,500 and maintenance costs by over $275 per truck, without sacrificing comfort or convenience. The payback period for such devices could be as short as one year, depending on use.
Devices on the market include direct-fired burners for cab and engine-block heating, thermal storage devices for heating and cooling, and auxiliary power units for heating, cooling, and electrical power. Typically, they consume 80-90% less fuel than a truck diesel engine. About 20-30% of Canadian long-haul tractors already have these energy-saving devices.
Transportation analysts have shown that the annual savings quickly offsets the initial cost of auxiliary equipment. Their analyses assumed the average heavy-duty freight-hauling (Class 8) truck averages 6 hours of idling a day and 43 weeks of use per year. This amounts to about 1,830 hours of engine idling annually. If auxiliary devices replaced idling for 1,450 of those hours (a conservative estimate) and used 85% less fuel, operators would save 1,230 gallons of fuel, or about $1,500 (conservativly priced at $1.25 per gallon), see OPEC Factor. Less engine wear would also significantly decrease the cost for preventive maintenance and overhauls, adding over $275 in estimated annual savings.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies, consistent with its mission to reduce petroleum consumption, emissions, and dependence on foreign oil, has begun a program to inform truck operators about the significant advantages of reduced idling. An exhibit showing these advantages and staffed by Argonne experts will appear at truck shows nationwide during the next two years.
Reducing idling would have significant environmental and economic benefits on the national level as well. If all class 7 and 8 long-haul trucks (about 480,000 vehicles) used these devices, the total fuel savings would be as much as 0.6% of all fuel used for surface transportation in the United States. Furthermore, reducing idling is important for reducing air pollution. Assuming 1,890 hours of idling a year, a single truck emits about 21,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas; 390 pounds of carbon monoxide; and 225 pounds of nitrogen oxides.
Thus, by reducing idling, truckers have the opportunity to create a rare win-win-win situation: a win for their own wallets, a win for the nation in increased energy efficiency, and a win for the environment. |
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