Road Scholar Transportation

*Information about SmartWay provided by http://www.epa.gov/smartway/.

This month, Road Scholar Transport was proud to announce its partnership with SmartWay.

Recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for committing to improve the environmental performance of our customer’s freight operations, Road Scholar will collaborate with the SmartWay Transport Partnership with a focus on reducing emissions and fuel consumption.

SmartWay, launched in 2004 by EPA and Charter Partners and has grown to include over 3000 partners since, works with carriers to track fuel consumption/improve performance, identifying equipment that helps save fuel and lower emissions.  Becoming a member of SafeWay, Road Scholar vows to contribute to the Partnership’s savings of 1.5 billion gallons of fuel, $3.6 billion in fuel costs, 14.7 MMT of carbon dioxide (CO2), 215,000 tons of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 8,000 tons of particulate matter.

Would you put your child in a room filled with over 40 toxic air contaminants?  No, but that’s what they are breathing in when they step outside.  School buses, heavy-duty trucks, and other vehicles that utilize diesel fuel contain over 40 toxic pollutants which, you guessed it, are emitted into the air for our children, our friends, and ourselves to breathe in.

Road Scholar’s 2012 trucks, however, are 40 times cleaner than 2007 engines.  In fact, newer equipment/engines “can improve their performance and reduce key emissions by up to 90 percent.” ¹

With companies and manufacturers becoming more eco-friendly, “emissions from heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses have been reduced by 99 percent for nitrogen oxides (NOx) – an ozone precursor – and 98 percent for particulate emissions” over the past decade, states Allen Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Diesel Technology Forum. ²

This reduction is of great importance when considering the harmful affects diesel exhaust can cause.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, diesel exhaust can lead to “health problems related to breathing, including chest pain, coughing, and shortness of breath” and “the sooty particulate matter (PM) in diesel exhaust can become deposited deep in the lungs and result in premature death, increased emergency room visits, and increased respiratory symptoms and disease.” ³

But how serious is this problem?  A 2004 study found that approximately 21,000 Americans pass away each year from inhaling diesel exhaust with more than 14% of those deaths resulting from lung cancer. ⁴

Besides newer equipment, fuel efficiency can also positively affect diesel emissions.  Cutting back on deadhead/creating more efficient mileage is one way to promote fuel efficiency as well as using more eco-friendly fuel, such as ultra-low sulfur diesel.  In fact, utilizing this type of fuel has “reduced sulfur emissions by 97 percent,” since 2010 when it was required that all diesel fuel in the U.S. be ULSD. ²

Road Scholar has already gone eco-friendly and is offering the following advice on how you too can reduce your carbon footprint.

-As stated previously, newer trucks/equipment, fuel efficiency methods (such eco-friendly fuel choices, reducing deadhead, and planning routes to make mileage more efficient), as well as  joining a program such as SmartWay can help reduce the amount of diesel your trucks emit.

-Speed control:  It goes without saying, the faster you go, the more fuel you burn.  For example, traveling at 60 mph would burn fuel at a rate of 6 mpg.  Traveling at 70 mph would burn fuel at a rate of 5 mpg…and so on.

-Skirting on trailers slipstreams the trailer and reduces drag created by rushing air.  In fact, those skirts that are verified by SmartWay are known to increase fuel efficiency by 4-7%. ⁵

-Cruise control typically has a .3% fuel efficiency gain by helping your driver maintain a steady speed instead of constantly stepping on the gas and then braking.

-Progressive shifting:  For example, shifting at lower revs in lower gears rather than tacking out the rev/minute in each gear.

-A good driver vs. a cowboy, who is constantly running fast.

With these tips, you too can become an eco-friendly carrier and help our environment.

For information about the SmartWay Transport Partnership visit www.epa.gov/smartway.

What measures are you taking to become more eco-friendly?  Would you prefer to ship with a SafeWay carrier as opposed to a carrier operating old modeled equipment?  List your comments below.

¹ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/in-the-past-10-years-emissions-from-diesel-trucks-and-buses-have-been-reduced-by-99-for-nox-and-98-for-particulate-emissions-2012-02-21

² http://www.marketwatch.com/story/in-the-past-10-years-emissions-from-diesel-trucks-and-buses-have-been-reduced-by-99-for-nox-and-98-for-particulate-emissions-2012-02-21

³ http://www.epa.gov/reg3artd/faqs/APDFAQ.htm

⁴ http://www.livestrong.com/article/123867-effects-diesel-fuel-fumes-humans/#ixzz1oGmIIKqa

⁵ http://www.freightwing.com/fleet_owner_1_27_12.php