McLane Company recently identified Eco Flaps splash guards as offering the most significant improvement in miles per gallon per dollar invested, according to MVT Solutions, which provides fuel economy testing.

As a result, the grocery and foodservice supply chain company is installing Eco Flaps on 3,800 tractors and 4,800 trailers this year, MVTS  said.

“We partnered with MVT Solutions to gain valuable insight on how to improve our fuel efficiency and expand our sustainability efforts,” said Daniel James, director of logistics and transportation management at McLane. “MVTS tested various aerodynamic packages and tire combinations and produced a real-world analysis that identified Eco Flaps as the product with which we would get the highest return on investment. This will help reduce our environmental impact and make McLane a more efficient company.”

McLane, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway, provides more than 50,000 grocery and foodservice products to nearly 110,000 convenience stores, mass merchants, drug stores and chain restaurant locations throughout the United States. Through McLane Grocery and McLane Foodservice, it operates more than 80 distribution centers across the country and one of the nation's largest private fleets.

“Partnering with MVT Solutions gave us the ability to quantify the fuel savings that McLane could realize with Eco Flaps quickly, and without requiring a pilot test,” said Asa Hazelwood, director of sales at Eco Flaps. “The experienced and professional testing approach at MVTS that drilled down and captured fuel savings that can be realized in real-world operations gave McLane a higher level of comfort when deciding to replace standard mud flaps with our unique solution.”

Now McLane “can confidently commit” to installing Eco Flaps on 3,800 tractors and 4,800 trailers by the end of 2020, James said.

“We achieve our customers’ goals through our advanced fuel economy testing, consulting and real-world analysis,” said Daryl Bear, lead engineer and chief operating officer at MVT Solutions. “For fleets, such as McLane, our strategy identifies fuel-saving technologies that offer the fastest ROI.

“For suppliers like Eco Flaps, it provides valuable data quickly, without needing to go through a long and costly pilot evaluation.”