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7. Demonstration of a Dual-Commodity Log/Chip Trailer for Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Demonstration of a Dual-Commodity Log/Chip Trailer for Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The analysis and conclusions contained in this case study are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the point of view of the Government of Canada.

Organization
FPInnovation - Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada Division

Major Findings
It is estimated that by using eight log/chip B-trains on one particular route, 1,760,000 litres of fuel would be saved.

Project Timeline
October 2004 to October 2005

Please note that some figures such as diesel prices are based on data from the period that this project took place.

Introduction

When logs are hauled by truck to saw mills for processing, half of the logs result in lumber, and the rest become chips that are used as raw material in pulp and paper mills. These two products are usually transported in trailers engineered specifically to haul one or the other; logs in an open trailer with bunks, and chips in a closed van container. Given their unique configuration, these trucks run empty 50% of the time.

The Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, now known as FPInnovation, under Transport Canada's Freight Sustainability Demonstration Program (FSDP), set out to demonstrate and quantify the reduction of fossil fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) when trucks are able to carry payloads on both outbound and return legs of their haul routes.

Project Description

In western Canada, changes in the way raw forest products are allocated between processing mills created an opportunity to demonstrate the efficacy of a blended trailer design; one capable of hauling wood chips in one direction, and able to carry logs on the return trip. The advantages of deploying a blended design, or 'dual commodity' trailer, are several. From an environmental standpoint, running loaded on a round trip as opposed to one-way will consume less fuel per tonne carried, and generate proportionately less CO₂. As well, this project was intended to demonstrate increased profitability for the hauling operation, reduced capital and operating costs, and improved highway safety by reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

Project Methodology

On October 5, 2004, FPInnovations began a project to demonstrate and quantify the benefits to the environment, profit and road safety from using a dual-commodity, log/chip B-train trailer system for the western Canadian forest industry.

FPInnovations worked with Weldwood of Canada - now West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. - and its subsidiary, Sunpine Forest Products Ltd (now known as Sundre Forest Products Ltd.) and Glen Transport, their carrier, to rearrange their wood chip hauling contract to accommodate using a dual-commodity log/chip trailer. This single unit would replace two trucks, pulling either conventional log or chip hauling B-train trailers, which run empty for half their duty cycle. Glen Transport was awarded the contract to operate the new trailers between the Hinton and Sundre mill, a round trip distance of 890 km.

In western Canada, since the dropped belly, van-type B-train trailer, developed for top-loading and flow-through dumping, is the most used for wood chip transportation, it became the platform for designing the dual-commodity log/chip B-train. In simple terms, a B-train, as it is known in the road transportation industry, is made up of two trailers linked together by a fifth wheel, located at the rear of the lead trailer, directly above its three trailing axles, or 'tridem'. The double trailer assembly is then coupled to a tractor via its fifth wheel. This 'train' is famous for its cornering stability and hauling capacity.

For the blended trailer design, trailer box length was determined by the forest industry's standard cut-log length. Log bunks and stakes are part of the design. The stakes provide support for the walls and serve as doorposts for the side doors. Fine-mesh nets, guided by taut cables stretched by hand along the top edges of the trailer walls, enclose the trailer.

Glen Transport's dual commodity log/chip B-train trailer.

The haul route travelled in the project was chosen because the dual-commodity B-train only ran empty from Hinton, Alberta, to a log storage depot approximately 70 km to the east, or about 8% of the trip. Saw logs were then carried from the depot to the sawmill in Sundre, roughly 375 km away, where wood chips were loaded for transport to the West Fraser pulp mill in Hinton.

Haul route of the dual commodity B-train between Hinton and Sundre.

Project Details

The project began in October 2004, and ended a year later. FPInnovations personnel rode along with Glen Transport's log/chip B-trains to download fuel consumption data from the truck engines' Electronic Control Module (ECM) as a way to support the manually gathered data. This was necessary because ECMs cannot tell the difference between fuel consumed while running loaded or empty, a distinction that was critical to the project.

VNW Enterprises Ltd. of Edson, Alberta, runs a fleet of conventional, single-use log B-trains, and agreed to participate in the project. In December 2004, FPInnovations staff travelled to Edson to train VNW personnel on data collection criteria. Since their logging trucks did not have onboard computers, daily fuel usage statistics could only be collected when FPInnovations personnel were on-site to perform manual downloads from the trucks' ECMs. In early 2005, eight dual-commodity B-trains went into service, and VNW's participation in the project came to a close.

At this time, Lo-Bar Log Transport Co. Ltd. of Drayton, Valley, Alberta, decided to take part in the project. They were a contractor for Weyerhaeuser Company Limited in Drayton Valley, and a portion of their haul route coincided with that covered by the log/chip B-trains. Since Lo-Bar's trucks also lacked onboard computers, FPInnovations personnel travelled to their base in Drayton Valley in March 2005, to collect data from the trucks' ECMs.

Lo-Bar shifted their operations to British Columbia in the summer of 2005, and FPInnovations found KMD Contracting Ltd. of Sundre to replace them in October 2005. Due to this interruption, data collection continued for an additional month, and FPInnovations staff travelled to Sundre in November 2005, to download information from the trucks' ECMs.

(Shown above: the dual-commodity log/chip B-train on display at FPInnovations' Forestry Transportation Seminar)

Results

Table 1 provides a synopsis of fuel consumption, payload (in tonnes) and distance-travelled data collected over the course of the project. CO₂ production values for each trailer configuration are calculated as a product of 2.73 kg generated times litre of fuel used.

 Table 1.

Configuration	Number of Samples	Total Fuel Consumption (L)	Total Payload (t)	Total Distance Travelled (km)	Co2 produced per tonne- km (kg)
Log/chip	492	286,079	38,534.8	415,892	0.024
Logs only	68	10,193	2,769.9	16,335	0.042
Chips only	208	103,558	8,561.9	175,848	0.039

The dual-commodity log/chip B-train produced the lowest amounts of CO₂ at 0.024 kg per tonne-km compared to those values for conventional single-purpose log and chip trailers.

Table 2 shows comparative fuel consumption figures for each trailer configuration in the study on a litre per tonne basis.

 Table 2.

Configuration	Average Fuel Consumption per Trip	Average Payload per Trip	Litres per Tonne
	(l)	(t)	(l/t)
Log/chip	612	78.3	7.8
Log only	555	40.7	13.6
Chip only	524	41.2	12.7

The log/chip B-train trailer demonstrated a 69% improvement in fuel usage over that of single-use log or chip trailer configurations.

Cost and Payback

Glen Transport estimated that using eight log/chip B-trains on the Hinton to Sundre haul route would result in annual savings of 1,760,000 litres of fuel, as compared to using single-use trailers. At the time of this study, that figure was translated into a dollar value of $1,232,000. The return-on-investment for a single log/chip B-train trailer, making ten trips per week, 44 weeks a year, is estimated to be approximately 1.4 years.

Conclusion

FPInnovations calculated that operating a log/chip B-train would reduce transportation costs of logs and chips on the Hinton to Sundre haul route by 10% and 29% respectively. In 2003, FPInnovations' Eastern Division examined the potential for multi-use trailers within the Canadian forest industry. They determined that more than 350 log/chip trailers could be effectively deployed across Canada, resulting in lower GHG emissions, fossil fuel consumption and travel distances as well as increased profitability.

When the final report for this project was submitted in late 2005, FPInnovations felt that the forest industry has yet to embrace the employment of dual-use trailers. Haul contracts are typically awarded to different contractors hauling different products, and do not lend themselves to round-trip hauling. Cooperation among contractors, companies and mills would create an environment with haul volumes sufficient to guarantee success and encourage capital investment on the part of manufacturers to develop new, dual-use trailers.

Additional Information

• FPInnovations - Forest Engineering Institute of Canada Division
• Glen Transport: Log/chip B-train trailer

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Date modified:

2012-02-09

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