Businesses can be so busy doing what they do, they don't have time to do what they do, better. Take the trucking industry. Things that have been around since the sixties (the cab mounted roof deflector to be specific) still aren't fully used some forty years later. And there are plenty of other right now ways to improve truck energy efficiency that aren't rolling down the road (see for yourself, take a drive).
When the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) delved into this under-attended corner of the energy efficiency movement, they found some surprisingly simple opportunities, and the reason for the industry's reluctance to grab these opportunities.
Why the reluctance? Lack of reliable information and lack of trust. There's been no place to go for reliable information regarding truck efficiency. There have been plenty of snake oil salesmen, though, selling fuel additives and other things that haven't lived up to the hype. No reliable information, lots of snake oil, no trust.To address these problems, RMI launched the North American Council for Freight Efficiency in November, vowing to work with stakeholders from across the industry to get sensible solutions on the table for truckers.
RMI and the Council are looking holistically at the opportunities. Improve aerodynamics first, then reduce the engine size because you've reduced the load on the truck (to dive into the details of sealing tractor-trailer gaps and full skirting and boat-tails, download this whitepaper). Use double trailers where states allow now; work on developing a "double trailer corridor" to create a high efficiency truck route (could the prospect of additional trucker revenue induce non-participating states to help?). Get producers to reduce packaging to haul less, or actually, to be able to haul more product (where do they come up with these ideas?).
Double trucking efficiency by changing operations and employing technologies that are available now.
Art: the Rocky Mountain Institute
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