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7. Satellite Tracking to Reduce Truck Idling and Speeding

Satellite Tracking to Reduce Truck Idling and Speeding

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
Sunbury Transport Ltd.

Major Findings
Sunbury Transport Ltd. reduced fuel expenses by $170,000 and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 538 tonnes by installing tracking and idle reducing equipment and providing driver training.

Project Timeline
February 2006 to March 2007

Please note that some figures such as cost savings on fuel are based on data from the period that this project took place.

Introduction

Sunbury Transport Ltd. (Sunbury) is a trucking company with locations in Fredericton, NB, Saint John, NB, and Halifax, NS; as well as the Mississauga, ON, location that serves Canada east of Manitoba and the continental USA. The company operates 300 trucks; of these, approximately 250 are operator-owned. With fuel cost a significant factor in trucking profits, Sunbury continually seeks equipment, method and driver improvements to minimize both fuel costs and environmental impact per tonne of freight shipped.

Project Description

The project included training and incentives to encourage owner-operators to reduce fuel consumption and thereby increase their own profits and reduce emissions. In 2005, Sunbury collected baseline data and made an action plan. The project took place from February 2006 to March 2007 with support from Transport Canada's Freight Sustainability's Demonstration Program.

During the project, Sunbury's speed limit policy of 68 miles per hour (mph) or 109.5 km/h for owner-operated trucks could be surpassed 15% of the time for passing and on hills etc. Without tracking instrumentation, it was difficult to monitor and make improvements that saved fuel and improved safety.

A fleet management reporting system was developed in Phase 1, in August 2006. This was followed by a driver challenge from May to December 2006, to develop interest in reducing idling time and generally changing driving habits. Information was provided to management and also posted to a secure website that enabled drivers to assess their driving performance relative to company averages. The purpose of the challenge was to have units achieve a weekly idle time of less than 10% of total engine time. Names of those who met the target were entered in a weekly draw to win 100 L of fuel. Training, persuasion and incentives encouraged owner-operators to acquire data collecting equipment and learn how the information it provides could improve their profits, increase safety and reduce environmental impact.

Sunbury surveyed all 250 owner-operators to inventory devices that reduced main engine use during overlay. A survey indicated that 52% of owner-operator trucks had bunk heaters, 22% had engine heaters, 5% had auxiliary air conditioning and 5% had auxiliary power units (APUs). Sunbury sourced APUs and offered financial incentives to encourage owner-operators to reduce idling by acquiring APUs. In addition, 45 more owner-operators bought bunk heaters as a result of a Sunbury sale, resulting in 76% of Sunbury owner-operators having a bunk heater or some other idling-reducing equipment.

During Phase 2, which began in August 2006, owner-operators were required to install equipment that allowed the transfer of engine performance data via satellite, and Sunbury installed the units in its company-owned trucks. An additional 90 owner-operator trucks were equipped with satellite data transmission capabilities. As data collection progressed, effort was made to correct hardware and software problems that kept some trucks from reporting, before the end of the project period. A dedicated mechanic was assigned to permit in-house maintenance of communications equipment. Five owner-operated trucks were not reporting because of electrical configurations that could not be resolved.

In September 2006, Sunbury developed policies for idle time, speeding and idle-reducing auxiliary equipment. Over several months, meetings with drivers were held to present and discuss the policies. An annual company conference on fuel focused on reducing idle time and other fuel efficiency measures. Engine manufacturers and auxiliary power and truck vendors made presentations and answered questions from employee drivers and owner-operators. As the challenge drew to a close and with fuel management policies in place, Sunbury moved toward policy implementation and enforcement.

Project Goals and Objectives

The objective of this project was to implement a fuel efficiency program that uses satellite tracking and Sensortracs data to provide information from owner-operator trucks to increase fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs and GHG emissions.

The project goal was to achieve an 8% reduction in fuel use and GHG emissions based on gaining an additional 0.5 miles per gallon (mpg). Other targets were to reduce layover idle time to 10% or less and over-speeding to 15% or less.

Project Methodology

Baseline data from 2005 was used to compare the fuel efficiency before and after the project. In 2005, some trucks were equipped with Sensortracs data collection equipment and could transmit engine performance data to Sunbury headquarters on a weekly basis. Data collected from units included: miles traveled, engine time, idle time, driving time and over-speed time. Information was analyzed according to unit, fleet, division and overall company improvement. Owner-operated trucks equipped with tracking instrumentation showed idle time as high as 50% for certain times of the year and over-speed as high as 25%.

Results

Satellite tracking allowed Sunbury to gather data from the engine computer on each satellite-equipped truck. The data was made available on a secure Sunbury partners website so owner-operators could compare their fuel management to others in their division.

Sunbury tracked company and owner-operator savings that grew as a result of reduced fuel consumption. For the 14 months of the project, the combined fuel savings for Sunbury and the owner-operators totalled $170,000. Figure 1 shows how increases in fuel mileage and reductions in idling time took hold after the project started in February 2006. The corresponding decrease in GHGs for the period was about 539 tonnes.

Figure 1 Average fleet idle time and fuel mileage

It is important to note that improvements occurred incrementally during the project as practices were changed and idle-reducing equipment was acquired. In addition, results were adversely affected in February and March 2007, when idling spiked because trucks required additional heat during longer layover times during storms and unusually severe weather.

Conclusion

This project enabled Sunbury Transport Ltd. to make policy and equipment changes and offer driver education, which resulted in the company and its owner operators saving over $170,000 in fuel costs. Further improvements will come as data tracking extends to other divisions and owner-operators continue to add idle-reducing equipment to their trucks and adopt fuel-saving driving habits. The data acquisition system and new policies position Sunbury to implement and track any future technological improvements.

Additional Information

• Sunbury Transport Ltd.
• Sensortracs (Presently unavailable)

Alternative Format

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Date modified:

2011-11-07

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