By Jason Mathers

I recently had the opportunity to speak about leading corporate green freight practices on Talking Logistics—an online weekly talk show and blog. Talking Logistics is hosted by industry expert Adrian Gonzalez and is a venue for thought leaders and newsmakers to discuss the supply chain and logistics industry.

During this discussion, we spoke about the EDF 5 Principles for Greener Freight, the actions of large freight shippers, including Ocean Spray, Caterpillar, and Boise; and the importance of freight shippers adding their voice in support of strong truck efficiency standards.

You can watch the episode here:

By Jason Mathers

I was able to peer into the future of trucking the other day. Anyone who was in Louisville, Kentucky could see it. And there were a lot of us there – 75,000 people attended the Mid-America Trucking Show.

This annual event is the world’s largest heavy-duty trucking show. Over a thousand companies exhibit. Leading truck and equipment manufacturers introduce products and make major announcements. This year, a lot of the announcements and new products focused on improving fuel efficiency.

The focus on fuel-efficiency was in part because fuel costs are the single largest component of owning and operating a truck – accounting for nearly 40% of total cost-per-mile. New, federal heavy-truck efficiency and emissions regulations that went into effect January 1st sharpen the industry’s focus on fuel-efficiency.

As I’ve written about before, well-designed federal standards can foster the innovation necessary to bring more efficient and lower emitting trucks to market. This power was on full display at the truck show.

• Volvo Trucks announced that its 2014 engines were delivering up to 3% fuel efficiency improvement over 2013 models.
• Cummins – the world’s largest manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engines – announced that its 2014-certified 15 liter diesel engine was “7% more fuel efficient than four years ago.” Because of this gain in efficiency, a typical truck driver will save $4000 a year operating a new truck with this more efficient engine.

These engine improvements cut harmful climate pollution and save truckers money. They were driven in part by the first ever heavy-truck fuel efficiency standards – which, as Martin Daum, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America noted, “are very good examples of regulations that work well.”

The 2014 and 2017 standards for the truck fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas program are important building blocks. We must develop 2020 and beyond standards that go even further. EDF has written about the environmental and economic imperative for strong “phase 2” rules. At the Mid-American Truck Show, the ability of the industry to innovate was on full display.

• Allison Transmission unveiled a new automated transmission – the TC10 – which “has shown an average 5% fuel economy improvement over manual and automated manual transmissions in fleet testing.”
• Michelin introduced a new generation of its X One tires which achieves “up to a 10% improvement in fuel efficiency and more than 740 lbs of weight savings per truck.”
• Alcoa introduced a new heavy truck wheel –the Ultra ONE that can reduce tare weight by 1,400 pounds per rig.
• Daimler’s Freightliner brand introduced day cab roof fairings that improve aerodynamics, resulting in up to a 3.7% increase in fuel economy.
• SmartTruck announced that its UT6 trailer aerodynamics package was certified as EPA SmartWay Elite – signifying that the package achieves fuel savings of 9% or better.

These are all fuel-saving solutions that are available today and are additional to the 7% more efficient engines Cummins is manufacturing.

So what’s the future of trucking? It’s taking advantage of all of the available fuel-saving strategies and technologies.

The Peterbilt and Cummins “Super Truck,” which was on display, demonstrates the potential of this approach. While the Super Truck is a demonstration vehicle, the technologies used in it are intended to be commercially available around 2020. Among the solutions used in the truck are:

• an advanced waste heat recovery system;
• electronic control software that uses route information to optimize fuel use;
• an aerodynamic tractor and trailer combination;
• a lithium ion battery-auxiliary power unit, to reduce engine idling; and
• various light-weighting solutions

When combined, these solutions have enabled the Peterbilt and Cummins “Super Truck” to achieve 10.7 MPG while hauling a combined gross weight of 65,000 lbs – a great improvement over the 6.0 MPG of the typical big rig on the road today.

Getting a chance to see this truck was the highlight of my trip. When sitting in its cab, it was easy to see a future where all new trucks are considered “super trucks.” Making this future a reality will be good for the trucking industry and its customers, as a “Super Truck” will save about $27,000 annually per truck. It also will be really good for you and me – as these trucks will cut climate pollution by over 40% while saving American households over $250 a year.

Throughout the show, two things were clear: 1) there is a desire among truckers for more efficient trucks, and 2) industry has the know-how and aspiration to further offer innovative, fuel saving solutions. But well-designed federal standards are also vital because they foster the innovation necessary to bring more efficient and lower emitting trucks to market – providing significant fuel cost savings to truckers. Indeed, they already have.

By Jason Mathers

What a great two days it’s been for the future of trucks. Yesterday, Walmart unveiled a prototype, concept next generation tractor-trailer truck that they have affectionately dubbed “Jetson.” This morning, President Obama laid out a timeframe for action on developing the next generation truck efficiency standards – standards that will improve the fuel efficiency of American trucks, bolster energy security, cut carbon pollution, save money and support manufacturing innovation.

Innovation is critical to curb the growing climate pollution and fuel consumption from our nation’s freight trucks – which are projected to increase by 40 percent between now and 2040. But innovation is best supported by strong standards.  A well-designed efficiency program can speed the deployment of clean, energy-efficient technologies and the infrastructure to support their widespread use nationwide.

We have seen the success of this combination many times.  The trucking industry has delivered incredible innovation in meeting stringent standards for particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen, and the first phase of greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards. And through their own innovation, manufacturers are meeting these standards in advance of compliance deadlines, doing so for lower costs, and delivering substantial, real-world benefits.

The second phase of fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for trucks and trailers will build on this foundation of success. But they will also build on the innovation of companies like Walmart who are pushing the envelope. 

 The unveiling of Jetson, officially called Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience (“WAVE”) came during a live webcast of Walmart’s annual Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting on Monday.

At first glance the prototype truck is simply cool looking, and explains why it got the nickname Jetson.  But it is also incredibly fuel-efficient. The tractor is super aerodynamic – in order to achieve the dramatic aerodynamics, the driver sits in the middle of the cab and the engine is under the cab instead of in front of it.  The entire cab lifts up to give access to the powertrain.

The trailer also benefits from advanced aerodynamics. And it is built “almost exclusively from carbon fiber.” Because of this, the trailer weighs 4,000 pounds less than a standard trailer, which would enable it to legally carry more product. The front end is also convex – which enhances the aerodynamics and increases storage capacity.

The power system for the truck is a revolutionary combination of a microturbine; battery storage; electric motor.

While some of the technologies in the Jetson truck may not be street ready in the next few years, Walmart sees value in pushing itself and its vendor partners – Peterbuilt Trucks, Great Dane Trailers and Capstone Turbine – just a little bit farther. And their efforts demonstrate the potential to truly revolutionize our heavy trucks and trailers. Doing this well will require a combination of innovative technology and strong, well designed efficiency standards.

The cleaner freight trucks being made in America today show that when our nation works together we can achieve lasting progress for our economy and our environment – through innovation and common sense policies to advance and secure the transformative cleaner freight trucks of tomorrow.

By Jason Mathers

We've partnered with businesses, builders, and local communities to reduce the energy we consume.  When we rescued our automakers, for example, we worked with them to set higher fuel efficiency standards for our cars.  In the coming months, I'll build on that success by setting new standards for our trucks, so we can keep driving down oil imports and what we pay at the pump.” — President Obama. 2014 State of the Union

Global warming pollution from our nation’s heavy trucks is projected to increase by more than 130 million tons between now and 2040. This is expected to be the largest increase in emissions from any single end-use.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have the technology available to us to decrease freight truck emissions from today’s levels by 2030 – a 20% cut from our current path — and to go much further by 2040.

The average new heavy-duty diesel truck sold last year got slightly less than six miles per gallon.  Most of these trucks travel upwards of 120,000 miles and burn more than $80,000 worth a fuel per year.

This inefficiency has real costs for our economy. We import millions of barrels of oil to fuel these trucks. Businesses small and large spend billions on the fuel needed to move freight. You and I pay for this every trip we take to the grocery store too.

We have the tools today to change this.

Well-designed federal standards can foster the innovation necessary to bring more efficient and lower emitting trucks to market. In order to move these tools from the test track to the assembly line, manufacturers need to be confident in market demand in order to develop and launch efficiency improvements. Scaled production can drive down costs, further enhancing the payback truck fleets will experience through lower fuel bills.

Our heavy trucks can become much more efficient. In fact, recent analysis by ACEEE found that it’s realistic for new truck standards to be set high enough to achieve something approaching a 40% fuel consumption reduction compared to 2010 trucks within the next decade.

EDF has set out a blueprint for rigorous greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards. Through smart, well designed policies and American innovation, we can cut climate pollution and save fuel costs while strengthening our security and winning the race to deploy clean energy technologies in the global marketplace.

Many companies already have developed and are bringing to market the tools we need to meet a strong standard. Examples include:

Truck transmissions manufacturer, Eaton – which launched a powertrain package than can improve fuel efficiency by up to 6%.

Truck engine builder, Cummins Inc., and truck manufacturer, Peterbilt Motors Co. – which partnered last year to build a truck that "averaged 9.9 miles a gallon in road tests last fall." They did this through a suite of improvements; including capturing otherwise wasted thermal energy.

Smart Truck Systems, a supplier of aerodynamic products to the trucking industry – which has a product that can cut fuel consumption from tractor-trailer combination trucks by over 10% through advanced aerodynamics.

Also available to us is innovative axle technology that can increase truck fuel efficiency by 2.5%.

In addition, we have technology to power delivery trucks by advanced hybrid or fully electric systems.

To understand the positive economic potential of adopting strong truck fuel efficiency standards, we only need to look back to the start of this month.

On January 1st, our nation’s biggest trucks became subject – for the first time ever – to fuel efficiency standards. These standards cover trucks from large pick-ups to tractor-trailers. They will cut climate pollution by nearly 300 million tons while saving truck operators $50 billion.

For combination tractor-trailer trucks, these standards will cut annual fuel costs by over $18,000 at today’s prices. The fuel savings will pay back the increase in upfront costs in less than five months.

Companies that rely on trucking to move goods stand to benefit significantly too. These companies will see a decrease of around $0.11 in the total cost-per-mile to move freight. Across their supply chain, large freight shippers will save millions of dollars each year because of this rule.

These are real savings that businesses big and small are starting to see in their bottom line today.

These first generation standards introduced now were created with the broad support of the trucking industry and many other key stakeholders. Among the diverse group that supported this rule was the American Trucking Association, Engine Manufacturers Association and the Truck Manufacturers Association, the United Auto Workers, and EDF.

But this is just the beginning. With the right political and commercial will, EDF believes we can build on the partnership created during the development of the current standards to find common ground on the next phase of truck efficiency rules.

We can do this in a way that enables American business to thrive, cuts the need for imported oil by hundreds of millions of barrels a year, and slashes global warming pollution by over 100 million tons a year.

And because we can, we welcome President Obama’s call to action in the State of the Union.

By Jason Mathers

The just released 2014 State of Green Business report examined the top sustainable business trends of the past year.  Right at the top of the list was collaboration.  EDF agrees. We are seeing an uptake in the willingness of companies to work together on smart practices that reduce cost and improve environmental performance.

Ocean Spray Cranberries was highlighted in the Green Biz report for their willingness to collaborate with Tropicana. EDF produced a case study of this effort.  By working together, Ocean Spray was able to reduced carbon emissions from one of its key freight lanes by over 60% and cut costs for that lane by 40%.

EDF partnered with MIT to produce the Ocean Spray case and two other freight case studies this past year.  All three demonstrated the value of collaboration. OfficeMax & Boise, Inc. demonstrated the importance of supplier-customer collaboration for outbound freight. Caterpillar demonstrated the value of collaborating with its suppliers to build fuller inbound freight moves. The lead author for the cases, Dr. Edgar Blanco, recently noted in a recent article in MIT Sloan Review, collaboration is often a key in greening freight.

 

By Jason Mathers

This holiday season, as you click on "buy", you might wonder about the environmental impact of online shopping. Is it better to have a truck bring my stuff to me?  Or is it better for me to go to the store?

The only simple answer here is that it depends. How close is the nearest store? Would you walk, bike, or drive there? Go solo or with a friend? Are you getting one item or many different things? What is the likelihood that you will return the product? Would the online order be overnighted to you via air mail?

The complexity of the choice is made clear in a new paper from the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. It explores the carbon footprint in different parts of the shopping process, for different types of consumers.

The study concludes that shoppers who complete every step of a single transaction online, whom the author calls Cybernauts, will have a carbon footprint almost two times smaller than traditional shoppers, who make multiple visits to a store to evaluate, purchase and return items. Emissions related to packaging and delivery of the items purchased online didn’t outweigh the impact of customer transportation going to the store and back.

“On average when comparing generic online and traditional behaviors, online shopping tends to be more efficient than traditional shopping,” wrote Dimitri Weideli, the paper's author.

However, these benefits were eroded if customers used rush delivery or picked up and returned items in person. The study looked at the impact of online shopping for three typical products:

• Laptop: higher dollar value, bulkier, more protective packaging required
• Barbie doll: low dollar value, small profile, medium packaging
• T-shirt: low/no packaging, higher return rate

Computer modeling took into account the environmental impact of packaging, transportation and energy consumption associated with the different stages of the retail process, whether warehouse, sorting and collecting centers, retail store, computer use or data center. The model included seven different consumer profiles, with different components of the shopping process conducted online or in person, and different delivery and return methods.

Customer location, such as urban or suburban, was a critical factor in the environmental impact, as was choice of transportation mode. The farther away you are from a physical store and the less efficient your transportation, the better off you are purchasing online.

Given the increasing reliance on online shopping in the U.S., estimated to grow 9 percent per year through 2016, retailers could lessen environmental damage, improve the customer experience and optimize their businesses by making the shopping process more efficient.

The study recommended that retailers improve their supply chain’s carbon footprint. Of course, there are a lot of actions retailers can take in moving the goods from the manufacturing location to the distribution center. The EDF Five Principles for Greener Freight outline many of these.

On the “last mile,” the recommendations diverge between online and brick-and-mortar shopping. For online retailers, this means optimizing packaging and the return process. Brick-and-mortar stores could provide more information online so that customers make better purchase decisions, and could encourage customer pickup of online orders for stores located in dense urban areas.

“As online shopping continues to increase, and retailers offer wider combinations of brick-and-mortar and online offerings, understanding how behaviors evolve across different geographies will help develop tailored strategies to minimize the environmental impact of retail,” Weideli wrote.

Ultimately, though, it’s we as the customers who will make the decisions that will ultimately determine which method of getting the product is better.  So, if you want to go shopping the old school way, share the trip with a friend and maybe even take the bus. If you want to buy online, leave enough time to use the ground option and don’t buy with the intention of returning some portion of the goods.

This holiday season, as you click on “buy”, you might wonder about the environmental impact of online shopping. Is it better to have a truck bring my stuff to me? Or is it better for me to go to the store? The only simple answer here is that it depends. How close is the nearest […]

By Jason Mathers

When crafting a sustainable supply chain strategy, the choice of transportation mode is possibly the most important environmental decision a company can make. An increasing number of shippers are finding success with rail, which offers a terrific opportunity for reducing the environmental impact of shipping.

Certainly, trains don't work for every situation, given the distance to rail hubs, and some lingering concerns about reliability. But every time even a portion of a shipment is shifted from truck to train, there's a positive impact on the environment. After all, freight transport is responsible for 15 percent of business-related carbon emissions, one of the largest sources in the U.S.

Take Ocean Spray, which cut carbon emissions by 20 percent in its U.S. Southeast distribution operations while driving down associated transportation costs by 40 percent. The fruit juice and food manufacturer did this by opening a new distribution center in the region and finding an opportunity to take advantage of empty rail cars returning from a competitor's deliveries to Florida. (An independent logistics partner acted as a firewall to protect sensitive information.)

Ocean Spray is not the only company incorporating train into truck shipments for a double benefit of cost savings and reduced carbon footprint. The October issue of Inbound Logistics reported that intermodal traffic in the U.S. recently hit the highest weekly average ever, 257,795 units per week, as of August 2013.

Increasingly, using rail as a core part of shipping logistics makes sense for a lot of companies. Here are three success stories that illustrate this trend.

Jelly Belly Candy Co. now uses intermodal transport for all of its shipments from its main factory in Fairfield, Calif., to the primary distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. That's meant more than $500,000 in annual savings compared to just a year ago, when rail touched only 30 percent of those loads. More than 95 percent of the time, the company finds that rail matches the four-day transit times previously achieved via road shipment, according to Inbound Logistics.

In Europe, several companies have found an innovative approach to overcome one of the primary barriers to rail: having enough volume to make it worthwhile. By pooling their shipments, Colgate Palmolive, Mondelez International and Nestle expect to reduce carbon emissions by 18 million kg per year to start. It's exciting to see these sometime-competitors able to collaborate on distribution, with the help of a third-party logistics company.

GE Lighting has increased intermodal use by 25 percent from 2010 to 2012, with all of GE spending $70 million a year on intermodal transport, and sees tremendous potential for rail use to continue rising rapidly as proponents overcome negative perceptions about train reliability in different business units, according to a report by SupplyChainDigest editor Dan Gilmore. For instance, GE Lighting shipments from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to a factory in Tennessee now take six days as compared to five days via truck, are at least as reliable as full truckload moves and result in 40 percent lower total freight costs. Many of GE Lighting's business customers are interested in sharing rail cars, potentially linking inbound and outbound trains.

As awareness of the opportunities that rail presents to lower costs and carbon emissions simultaneously, and the real-life solutions to the barriers, we at EDF are optimistic about continuing to see greener U.S. freight.