Customers interested in reducing fuel consumption are considering U.S. EPA SmartWay certified equipment, which can yield a 6.5 percent fuel savings. The EPA SmartWay spec includes the use of side skirts and low rolling resistance tires. Recent legislation enforced by the California Air Resources Board is expected to cause an increase in the use of these aerodynamic and fuel saving components.
Fleets see benefits
Ralph Dove, vice president, marketing at Brown NationaLease, a full-service leasing company based in Des Moines, Iowa, fields about 1,200 trailers, the majority of which are Great Dane Classic reefer, Classic SSL dry freight vans and FREEDOM platform models. Purchases, which average 150 units annually, are made for specific customers.
“Last year,” Dove relates, “we started buying some EPASmartWay compliant dry vans for specific customers. The units have Laydon Composites trailer side fairings and Michelin X-One wide-base single tires on aluminum wheels. Those customers were very interested in saving fuel, and with Great Dane’s vast number of offerings and capabilities, we were able to help meet that need.”
SmartWay Transport, an innovative collaboration between theU.S. EPA and the freight transportation industry, is designed to improve energyefficiency, reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, and improve energy security. One way they accomplish that is by purchasing U.S.EPA-certified SmartWay trailers. Based on performance specifications developedby the agency and companies like Great Dane, the trailers are equipped with side skirts, weight-saving technologies, front gap reducers or trailer tails, and in many cases optional low-rolling resistance tires (wide-base single orduals) mounted on aluminum wheels. Tires approved by EPA as meeting SmartWay trailer specifications and offered by Great Dane include Bridgestone R-195F duals, as well as Bridgestone Greatec wide-base singles, Continental HTL, Goodyear G316 LHT Fuel Max and Michelin XTA Energy, XT1 and X-One XTA models.
[source - fleetequipmentmag.com]
