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What’s Killing Trucking Company Fuel Costs?

It is no secret that, behind the salaries trucking companies pay to their truck drivers, and other costs, such as benefits, fuel is the largest cost associated with running the business. In fact, if we take a look at all the costs fleets have to deal with, they break down in the following ways:

  • 43% – Truck Driver Salary & Benefits
  • 24% – Fuel
  • 15% – Truck Cab & Lease
  • 9% – Repairs & Maintenance
  • 5% – Truck Insurance Premiums
  • 4% – Miscellaneous Costs

So, as you can see, fuel makes up one of the primary factors when calculating fleet overhead. Consider that a big rig running approximately 90,000 miles per year at an average of 6.5 mpg will use around 14,000 gallons of diesel fuel every year. That represents a lot of fuel and is one of the primary factors driving the development of electric and autonomous trucks.

Want more data? Just look at the numbers. The latest Short-Term Energy Outlook by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects that the retail cost of on-highway diesel, including tax, will average $2.52 per gallon in 2020. And although there is no shortage of oil, don’t expect to see prices take a huge tumble in the near future.

Now, when you evaluate total costs with the average price above, this means that a commercial tractor trailer can easily consume more than $35,000 worth of diesel fuel per year. This represents the approximate 24% of total vehicle annual operating cost. With numbers this large, fleets must ensure they know where the holes are in their fuel efficiency programs. Is your trucking company doing enough to keep costs low?

The Three Main Factors

One way to look at this is by doing a cost-per-mile calculation. Cost-Per-Mile (CPM) for LTL carriers continues to rise, and has been rising over the years, according to the American Transportation Research Institute. From 2017 to 2018, fuel CPM increased by 17.7% for carriers, from 36.8 cents per mile to 43.3 cents per mile. These are big numbers and if increases like this remain consistent, they could represent big problems for carriers large and small.

We live in an environment where fuel will always be a volatile and an accounting item that will always give fleet managers headaches. But it does not have to be that way. Understanding the three main vehicle factors that affect fuel economy can help fleets and owner-operators better manage their largest annual operating expense.

But what are those three main factors? Keeping an eye on the critical items related to fuel costs will help motor carriers keep them low. You want to focus on:

  1. Aerodynamics: How much is aerodynamic drag slowing down your commercial motor vehicles?
  2. Tire Rolling Resistance: This is a topic not talked about enough, though we have reported on it in the past.
  3. Mechanical Losses: The best way to keep them low is through preventative maintenance.

Beyond these three factors, there are other things that influence fuel economy. One of the biggest remains the habits of your truck drivers. Are they driving like maniacs or are they driving like safety is their number one concern? This impacts fuel economy.

Other factors can impact fuel economy, of course. Factors such as weight, gradient, climate, and weather generally fall outside of the realm of fleet control. However, truck driver influence can be significant, and fleets can utilize driver training to improve in this area. Other vehicle technologies, such as predictive cruise control, may also help reduce these impacts.

Reducing Aerodynamic Drag

There is a reason why above 55 mph, aerodynamics dominates the fuel efficiency discussion. This is when aerodynamic drag becomes a real – pun intended – drag on your bottom line. And the problem is that too few fleets put enough of a focus on aerodynamics.

Aerodynamic drag, which constitutes the air moving out of the way so a truck can move forward, uses upwards of 50% of each gallon of diesel fuel, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Smoothly directing flow around the front and sides while reducing turbulence at the back are the two basic ways to improve truck aerodynamics.

There are three areas on a tractor-trailer where aerodynamic drag is the greatest: the front of the tractor, the chassis, and the low-pressure pocket behind the doors. Fleets have put a lot of effort over the years into optimizing the aerodynamics of heavy trucks by installing add-on devices such as side skirts, tails, and roof fairings. These accessories often come from varying manufacturers, with some requiring driver activation.

There are too many options out there for CARB-compliant, aerodynamic trailer solutions and side skirts. These easy-to-use, fuel-efficient solutions typically consists of a resilient trailer skirt, trailer-end fairings, a wake reducer, and aerodynamic mud flaps. Fleets need to responsibly ensure they are taking advantage of the options available to keep their bottom line in the green.

Have you seen the Nikola or Tesla semis? There is a reason they look as sleek as they do. OEMs and fleets are moving towards a paradigm where tractors are no longer boxy and ugly looking. Get ready for the trucks of the future to look as aerodynamic as they are.

A Closer Look at Aerodynamic Options

Aerodynamic solutions have come a long way. Now you can invest in an integrated solution, with each piece engineered to complement the others so that they work together seamlessly to deliver proven fuel savings. New features on the market include:

  • Resilient Trailer Skirts: Advanced skirts offer a bracket design that keeps the skirt rigid until it strikes an obstacle. If the skirt strikes an obstacle, the bracket will toggle and allow the skirt to easily flex both inward and outward. These types of new innovations have changed the game for trailer skirts.
  • Trailer-end Fairings: These items manage airflow around the rear of the trailer to reduce drag.
  • Wake Reducers: Wake reducers lessen the drag of the turbulent air behind the trailer. The trailer-end fairings and wake reducer are constantly functioning, with zero moving parts and no need for truck driver intervention.
  • Mud Flaps: Aerodynamic mud flaps are now made and designed to reduce vehicle drag and redirect road spray. We have come a long way from a silhouette of a lady on a simple piece of rubber.

While some fleet managers think accessories like these might not make much of a difference, you would be surprised at the savings you will find from installing them, especially if you have a large fleet with a lot of vehicles running.

Reducing Tire Rolling Resistance

Rolling resistance dominates energy consumption at speeds between 35 mph and 55 mph. The average operating speed of trucks is typically below 55 mph in major urban areas, due to traffic impact and congestion, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. So, you can see where rolling resistance can have a big impact on fuel usage.

Rolling resistance is the amount of energy lost (in the form of heat) due to the compression of the rubber in the tire as it rotates and interacts with the road while carrying the vehicle and its load. It is a simple matter of physics, kinetic energy, and materials science.

Tires are made of viscoelastic rubber compounds, which means that once materials have been distorted, they only regain their original shape after a certain period. The energy it takes to distort tires is never fully restored. Some of it dissipates in the form of heat, and this heat loss is the rolling resistance.

The only way to mitigate this is to invest in low rolling resistance tires. OEMs have come a long way to making these tires more affordable and more widely available. So, if they are there to save you money, why not use them? Learn more about how low rolling resistance tires can benefit you by clicking or tapping here.

Reducing Mechanical Losses

Mechanical losses from engine capacity, vehicle configuration and accessories eat up about 15% of each gallon of fuel, according to the North American Council for Freight Efficiency. The phrase “mechanical losses” is a catchall for things like gear and bearing losses, air conditioners, etc. This really covers a range of mechanical components on a tractor trailer.

There are only a few “mechanical” items that fleets can optimize to reduce these losses, such as spec’ing a more efficient, downsized engine or going to a 6×2 instead of a 6×4 configuration on the tractor. One thing a fleet can do to improve fuel consumption is to reduce speed.

A truck traveling at 75 mph consumes 27% more fuel than one going 65 mph, according to the American Trucking Association, so limiting truck speed to 65 mph would save 2.8 billion gallons of diesel fuel over a decade.

To optimize your fuel efficiency, it is critical to understand the three most important factors within your fleet: tire rolling resistance, aerodynamic drag, and mechanical losses. With this understanding, you can ask the best questions and make the right decisions to optimize your business. Have you taken the time to get the answer to those questions? If not, you are losing money.

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