Reducing truck fuel use and emissions: tires, aerodynamics, engine efficiency, and size and weight regulations

This report explores ways in which the properties of trucks and regulations governing them might be modified to improve freight efficiency and reduce fuel use and emissions in the challenging world of transportation economics and environmental stewardship. Trucks are the dominant mode of non-bulk commodity freight transport in the U.S. Compared to all other modes combined (rail + water + air + pipelines), trucks transport approximately twice the amount of freight by weight and approximately 1.8 times the amount of freight by value. Trucking has the most extensive distribution network of any transport mode, having access to over 3.9 million miles of roadways. Improvements in truck freight efficiency can be expected to show direct improvement of the nation’s overall transportation system. This study has identified four key focus areas that influence truck and truck freight efficiency. 1. Tire rolling resistance 2. Aerodynamics 3. Engine efficiency 4. Truck size and weight regulation Each of the four focus areas are discussed in terms of past and present performance, along with projections to the future. The final section of the report presents estimated potential realistic improvements for each of the four key focus areas, as well as the respective levels of technical challenge.The University of Michigan Sustainable Worldwide Transportationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109749/1/103144.pd

Survey of the status of truck safety: Brazil, China, Australia, and the United States

This report reviews the status of truck safety in four countries, Australia, Brazil, China, and the United States. The report describes the role of road freight transportation in each country; characterizes the current level of safety; and identifies the primary safety problems related to trucks within each country. Vehicle populations in Australia and the US are currently relatively similar, but both China and Brazil have a much higher reliance on motorcycles and nonmotorized transportation. Truck crash rates also vary among the countries, higher in Brazil and China, lower in the US and Australia. Primary safety issues in China and Brazil are interactions with two-wheeled vehicles and nonmotorists. Interactions with passenger cars and other light-duty vehicles are a greater issue in Australia and the US. Common issues include driver fatigue and hours of service, vehicle condition, and issues related to truck size and weight. Crash and vehicle population data available for this study varied widely in accessibility, comprehensiveness, and detail. Improved crash data are particularly important issues in China and Brazil.The University of Michigan Sustainable Worldwide Transportationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90952/1/102856.pd

Trucks involved in fatal accidents codebook 2009 (preliminary version October 18, 2011)

Special Report Task AThis report provides documentation for UMTRI’s file of Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents (TIFA), 2009, including distributions of the code values for each variable in the file. The 2009 TIFA file is a census of all medium and heavy trucks involved in a fatal accident in the United States. The TIFA database provides coverage of all medium and heavy trucks recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) file. TIFA combines vehicle, accident, and occupant records from FARS with information about the physical configuration and operating authority of the truck from the TIFA survey.Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration, Washington, D.C.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89937/1/48532_A55.pd

High efficiency trucks: new revenues, new jobs, and improved fuel economy in the medium and heavy truck fleet

The move to high efficiency trucks can lead to new revenues and jobs for companies involved in the development and marketing of the technologies needed to make this transition. But in order for the medium and heavy truck industry to make this transition, there will be a number of barriers to overcome. This study, funded by CALSTART, examines these challenges, estimates the potential revenues and jobs that may be created, and discusses the policy options available to government. The basis for this analysis is a survey of the manufacturers and suppliers that make up the medium/heavy truck industry. We divided potential new technologies into three groups, aerodynamics, hybrid/electric, and other powertrain technologies supplied from a previous analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). There are significant differences in the cost and sophistication of the technologies within as well as among these groups. Our analysis is based on the responses of 31 companies (from an original 90) that are either marketing or developing 52 of the new technologies. Two of the three challenges to introducing these new technologies, as reported by the executives who participated in the survey, focus on building the business case for the trucking industry to introduce the new technologies and ensuring customer acceptance of the technologies. The other major challenge is the technology challenges that still exist for some of the new technologies. These are significant challenges because the medium/heavy trucking industry, which runs on narrow margins, makes technology decisions based not on emotion but on business economics.CALSTARThttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91261/1/102867.pd

Tracking the use of onboard safety technologies across the truck fleet

Special ReportThe Transportation Safety Analysis and the Automotive Analysis Divisons at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) initiated the Onboard Safety Technologies project in 2007, supported by FMCSA, to collect detailed information about the penetration of onboard safety technologies in the trucking fleet and future use of these technologies. The five technologies examined included: lane departure warning (LDWS), electronic stability control (ESC), forward and side collision warning (FCWS/SCWS), and vehicle tracking systems (TRACKING). Previous work in estimating the penetration of onboard safety technologies never approached the question of technology penetration by sampling the popluation of trucking companies. This project uses that approach through the use of a random sample survey of the entire fleet of trucking companies to measure current penetration, future use, and the advantages available to companies employing these technologies. The source for the sample was the 2007 Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) file. Interviews were also conducted with companies with high penetration of the technologies as well as system suppliers of the technologies, in order to gather more detailed information about usage and future technology direction. The results of the survey show the expected low levels of usage of LDWS, FCWS, and SCWS, slightly higher levels of usage of ESC, and much higher usage of TRACKING. Analysis shows higher usage related to larger company size. Company usage of these technologies is expected to double over the next five years. The main factors noted by participants for using the technologies that vary little among the technologies include: proven safety benefits of the technologies, positive feedback by drivers, driver improvement, improved safety culture, reduced cost of accidents, and insurance benefits. The interviews yielded important views about the cost advantages of usage, the difficulty of justifying the purchase of the technologies, alternatives to safety technologies, and the future of technology integration.Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington, D.Chttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91262/1/102868.pd

Trucks involved in fatal accidents factbook 2007

This document presents aggregate statistics on trucks involved in traffic accidents in 2007. The statistics are derived from the Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents (TIFA) file, compiled by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. The TIFA database provides coverage of all medium and heavy trucks recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) file. TIFA combines vehicle, accident, and occupant records from FARS with information about the physical configuration and operating authority of the truck from the TIFA survey.Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration, Washington, D.Chttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65063/1/48532 A52.pd

Buses involved in fatal accidents factbook 2006

This document presents aggregate statistics on buses involved in traffic accidents in 2006. The statistics are derived from the Buses Involved in Fatal Accidents (BIFA) file, compiled by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. The BIFA database is a census of all buses involved in a fatal accident in the United States, and provides coverage of buses recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) file. BIFA combines vehicle, accident, and occupant records from FARS with information about the physical configuration and operating authority of the bus from the BIFA survey.Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstrationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61249/1/96746 A08.pd

Commercial medium tire debris study

Trucking fleets and owners of commercial vehicles utilize both new and retread tires on their vehicles in the United States. Retread tires are used primarily for the cost advantage they provide over a similar new tire. Despite the advantages that retreaded tires may bring, public perception is that retread tires are less safe than new tires as evidenced by the amount of tire debris frequently found on the sides of U.S. Interstate highways. During summer 2007, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) under a subcontract from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) collected and studied truck tire debris and discarded tire casings from five sites in the United States. A random sample (totaling 1,496 items) of the tire debris/casings collected was analyzed to determine the probable cause of failure and its original equipment or retread status. This report presents the methodology and results from this investigation into the underlying causes of truck tire failures and gives an overview of the crash safety problem associated with heavy-truck tire failures. Also, background information on the manufacture of a truck tire, the truck tire retread industry, tire failure modes, industry stakeholder perspectives, an overview of other previous tire debris studies, conclusions, and recommendations for topics for further research are given.National Highway Traffic Safety, Administration Office of Applied Vehicle Safety Researchhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61517/1/102117.pd

Safety benefits of stability control systems for tractor- semitrailers

This study was conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) under a Cooperative Agreement between NHTSA and Meritor WABCO to examine the performance of electronic stability control (ESC) systems, and roll stability control (RSC) systems for heavy-truck tractor-semitrailers. The study is based on the analysis of independent crash datasets using engineering and statistical techniques to estimate the probable safety benefits of stability control technologies for 5-axle tractor-semitrailer vehicles. The conventional approach for assessing the safety benefits of vehicle technologies is to analyze crash datasets containing data on the safety performance of vehicles equipped with the technology of interest. Because the deployment of the stability technologies for large trucks is in its infancy, national crash databases do not yet have a sufficient amount of factual data that can be directly linked to the performance of the technology. Therefore a novel method of examining the potential benefits of these systems was used. Crash scenarios that could likely benefit from the technologies were selected from national crash databases and the probable effectiveness of each technology was estimated. The analysis in this study did not have the advantage of examining representative crash datasets that contain identifiable data from vehicles equipped with the technology. Therefore, the analysis was based on probable outcome estimates derived from hardware-in-the-loop simulation, field test experience, expert panel assessment, and fleet crash data and these methods were used to estimate the safety benefits from the national crash data population.National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Applied Vehicle Safety Researchhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64283/1/102397.pd

On-board safety systems: Enablement of management and logistics

On-board commercial vehicle safety technologies present new opportunities for management and logistics in the road transport industry. As with many emerging technologies, the link to opportunity beyond the designed purpose of a particular technology is not fully realised until after implementation. This paper explores the relationship between on-board safety technology, management and logistics within the trucking industry. Topics discussed include best practice fleet safety management, safety culture, safety-related technologies. It includes the results of a survey of fleet safety executives and drivers about the effectiveness of safety technologies and effectiveness ranking. A literature review on the effectiveness of fleet management techniques that encourage safety culture and performance is included. The ability for on-board safety systems to support logistics and multimodal transport are discussed. Of the technologies currently available, electronic logging devices were found to be the most promising technology for transformational change in the context of safety, management and logistics