Almost every aspect of our lives is affected by trucking transportation — from moving the food we eat and the clothes we wear to bringing in necessary medicines for loved ones. Because of its fundamental importance to the economy, even a small improvement in trucking has far-reaching benefits for consumers and our environment. The key to this progress is trucking productivity.
To continue to meet society’s growing demand for commerce, the trucking industry must tackle several major obstacles. These include increasing congestion on the nation’s highways, particularly near urban centers where traffic threatens the safety, reliability and costs of moving goods. Another is a shortage of qualified drivers due to baby boomers who are retiring.
At the top of the list is a challenge for everyone: energy use and its impact on the environment. For example, recently motorists have enjoyed lower fuel costs. In goods transportation, the cost of diesel, the primary fuel for this heavy equipment, has decreased as well but remains a huge expense.
At $2.75 a gallon for diesel, the average semi-tractor uses more than $50,000 of fuel a year. Like other transportation sectors, the trucking industry has made a major effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The combined effect of new regulations, including recent federal greenhouse gas rules, has elevated efficiency to a top industry priority.
The trucking industry embraces a number of productivity measures that promise significant savings in energy and cost. One of the most straightforward is a rule change that would allow five additional feet on less-than-truckload (LTL) trailers. These are the carriers that move goods from many customers on one truck. The LTL market serves more than 9.4 million daily customers in every state, from big name retailers and manufacturers to family-owned businesses and local groceries.
This change would result in 18 percent more goods transported with no additional equipment. Notably, this would not require reengineering fleets since the carriers are ready to implement these new efficient measures today. That’s a simple solution to congestion, low air quality, the looming driver shortage and fuel costs.
Extending 28-foot trailers by five feet would also save 6.6 million truck trips per year. That is 6.6 million instances in which a truck does not leave a dispatch center, 6.6 million routes in which there is no idle time for the engine and 6.6 million trips never added to the collective traffic logs.
Efficiency gains in transportation deliver significant paybacks since all modes of shipping are forecasted to grow. More people and more goods — more economic activity — means more movement of all types. Passenger cars and freight trucks, in particular, will continue to dominate overall transportation energy and oil use, accounting for nearly 80 percent of demand in 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The transportation sector is a huge consumer of energy. According to IEA data, it accounted for 19 percent of global final energy consumption in 2007 and will account for a 97 percent increase in global oil use between 2007-30. Due to the transportation sector’s impact on global energy security and greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the amount of fuel used in road transportation should be a leading priority for all countries.
In order to maximize the way we deliver and receive goods, it is important to utilize the advances available to the trucking industry. With actions such as these, the trucking industry will grow and foster freight transportation in a way that yields clear economic and environmental benefits.
Mike Roeth is the executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and leads Trucking Efficiency for the Carbon War Room. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
