There’s still plenty of room for improving diesel fuel efficiency which as North American Council for Freight Efficiency Executive Director Mike Roeth makes clear is also an opportunity for cutting carbon.
“Decarbonizing trucking has become a very hot topic, but what we find in our work is far too often decarbonizing is only thought of in zero emission trucks, like you have to have an electric truck or a hydrogen fuel cell truck to decarbonize, which is really wrong. Anytime fleets burn less fuel to ship the same amount of goods, they are decarbonizing,” Roeth explained during a press event Tuesday covering NACFE’s 2022 Annual Fleet Fuel Study along with its new fleet Benchmarking Tool.
The 15 fleets that participated in NACFE’s Annual Fleet Fuel Study in 2021 (a total of 75,000 trucks) not only collectively saved $540 million last year compared to average trucks on the road, they also cut carbon.
“This report shows that they are decarbonizing the fleet right as we speak by operating these trucks with better fuel economy,” Roeth said, adding that he expects the 86 fuel saving technologies listed in the report to gain more attention as regulations tighten.
“Greenhouse gas rules are here to stay,” Roeth continued. “We have the zero emission rules that are coming in, but we expect a greenhouse gas phase three announcement in early 2023 sometime where the federal government will look at these fuel economy technologies out through the 2030s.”
[Related: Higher fuel prices, ESG driving growing interest in truck, trailer aero]
