According to new research, currently available technologies could earn fuel savings of $26,400 per truck with a payback time of less than 18 months.
The report published today by Carbon War Room and Trimble, Road Transport: Unlocking Fuel-Saving Technologies in Trucking and Fleets finds that efficiency gains could also mitigate 624 million tons of CO2 by 2020 in the US alone, if applied only to class 8 trucks.
The report finds that the adoption of fuel efficiency technologies represents a profitable investment opportunity that does not depend on any new policies in order to be successful.
The report calculates that a hypothetical tractor-trailer in good condition, driving 130,000 highway miles a year at the industry average of 6.5mpg, with 2,500 hours spent idling, will cost $88,000 annually in fuel. If this truck were to adopt the best available models of aerodynamic fairings, a battery-electric APU, wide-base tires, 6x2 transmission, advanced cruise control and GPS routing, the upfront capital outlay would be approximately $30,000, but even with an average degree of its fuel reduction potential, the truck would increase its fuel efficiency by 30 percent, reducing its fuel costs in a single year by $26,400.
