Sponsorship Letter: Lightweighting for Fuel Economy
Purpose
This letter is meant to inform you about the Council and the Trucking Efficiency Operation, and to announce
our next Confidence Report and solicit your support.
Introduction
Trucking Efficiency is a joint effort between the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and the Carbon
War Room to double the efficiency of North American goods movement through the elimination of market
barriers to information, demand and
supply. This project is an outgrowth of
the landmark Fleet Fuel Benchmarking
Study completed by NACFE annually.
That study has been called “The most
comprehensive study of Class 8 freight
efficiency adoption ever conducted”
and the latest findings can be found
here. This effort is driven by fleets
working closely with NACFE. They
along with every tractor and trailer
end user are the primary customers of
these reports.
The Operation is gathering and centralizing the many existing sources of data about the performance results
of different technology options and working with the industry to share previously unpublished data, and
making all of that data openly accessible and more cross-comparable. In order to generate confidence on
the performance claims of efficiency technologies, Trucking Efficiency is conducting a series of studies,
known as Confidence Reports. Reports have been published on tire pressure systems (Aug 13), 6x2 axles
(Jan 14), idle reduction solutions (July 14), electronic transmissions (Dec 14) and Engine Parameters (Feb 15).
Reports are either in process or planned for tires, lightweighting, maintenance, aerodynamics and others.
The results of all of this work are available on our Tech Guide at www.truckingefficiency.org.
Next Study: Lightweighting
The group is preparing to complete a Study on Lightweighting HD tractors and trailers. Lightweighting helps
increase freight efficiency in three ways; it lowers rolling resistance, allows carriers to add more cargo and it
may permit the adoption of technologies for fuel efficiency that add weight. The team will analyze three
groups to better understand the topic and suggest actions for the industry; highly weight conscious fleets,
who travel often at 80,000 lbs., such as tankers; slightly weight sensitive fleets, operating in certain
lightweight routes; and finally general freight fleets, who traditionally have not been too concerned about
weight. But, the Council believes that a few trends may make Lightweighting more important. Higher
tractor weights, driven by emissions and other requirements; freight becoming denser and technologies
enabling carriers to put more pallets on each trailer make lowering weight of HD tractors and trailers more
important. The study team will interview fleets, technology providers who provide lightweight products,
tractor and trailer builders, and other interested stakeholders. The target is to publish this report at the Fleet
Technology Expo in Long Beach on August 24th.
March 2015
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Sponsorship Letter: Lightweighting for Fuel Economy
Please Consider Sponsoring Help us transform the entire industry. Fuel-efficiency technologies abound, but
the claims providers make about their technology’s efficiency-improving values are equally numerous, and
fleet owners need proof of the validity of performance data and other benefits and challenges before
adopting. Trucking Efficiency has been created as a trusted, unbiased source of information on fuel-saving
technologies, to help fleets with these decissions. The NACFE and the CWR are developing a two-pronged
strategy, addressing both informational and financial barriers, that will build credibility and fast-track the
adoption of fuel-saving technology for class 8 commercial vehicles in the United States.
You can help by providing data and information to
the Study Team as well as sponsoring the project
directly. Multiple sponsoring organizations are
needed to keep the cost low and by engaging a
critical mass of the Industry on this topic. Three
levels of sponsorship area available and shown at
the left. Your support will be announced at all
Trucking Efficiency Workshops planned during
2015; May 4th in conjunction with ACT Expo in
Dallas, June 3rd in Salt Lake City and two other ones
with dates and locations yet to be finalized. These
Workshops are highly valued by the fleets and all
stakeholders as a safe place to openly discuss and
even debate the technologies studied.
Contact Mike Roeth, NACFE Executive Director, today to discuss your support at [email protected].
About Trucking Efficiency
Trucking Efficiency is a joint effort between the NACFE and the Carbon War Room
(www.carbonwarroom.com) to double the freight efficiency of North American goods movement. The operation eliminates the market barriers associated with information, demand and supply. A tech guide can be
found at www.truckingefficiency.org and workshops, including small group discussions on technologies are
held in various locations throughout the year.
About the North American Council for Freight Efficiency
The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) works to drive the development and adoption of
efficiency-enhancing, environmentally beneficial, and cost-effective technologies, services and methodologies. The Council is an effort of fleets, manufacturers, vehicle builders and other government and nongovernment organizations coming together to improve NA goods movement. Learn more at www.nacfe.org.
Scott Perry
Michael Roeth, Executive Director, NACFE
[email protected] 260.750.0106
March 2015
Scott Perry, Ryder System Inc. and NACFE Board Chairman
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