Earth Day Thoughts
Except for a very few people, most of us have come to recognize the responsibility we have to take better care of our planet. We set aside one day each year — Earth Day — to remind ourselves of the need for environmental stewardship.
But taking care of the environment is not something that should happen just one day a year, nor is it something only certain people or industries need to take care of.
The trucking industry — which often does not get enough credit for its efforts — actually has made great strides in “cleaning up” its act. When was the last time anyone saw black smoke coming out of an exhaust stack?
Trucking may have had a little push to be “green” from the government when it started imposing emissions standards, but since then a variety of industry participants from truck makers to engine manufacturers to component suppliers to fleets themselves have put a great deal of effort into doing their part to reduce fuel consumption, emissions levels and improve efficiency.
Current truck models are sleek aerodynamic machines. Powertrains are being optimized so engines can be downsped. New products are coming on the market regularly that allow fleets to get a few more tenths of a mile out of a gallon of fuel. And many fleets are making a concerted effort to make freight efficiency part of their DNA. They are spec’ing trucks with lighter weight components, training drivers on how to drive as efficiently as possible, optimizing routes to eliminate empty miles and investing in a wide variety of technologies that improve their overall fuel efficiency.
I am proud of the work Trucking Efficiency does to educate fleets, manufacturers and other interested parties on all the ways they can help make the Earth a better place every time a truck hits the road.
As part of our efforts, we are going to be announcing the results of our most recent Fleet Fuel Benchmark Study at the upcoming ACT Expo. We’re excited to share with you the best practices of 14 innovative fleets that have done an amazing job of improving their fuel economy. We hope they will serve as role models and inspiration for other fleets so that trucking will do its part to take care of the Earth not just on Earth Day, but every day.
