Fleets missing out on fuel savings: report

NASHVILLE, TN- Fleets that optimize their electronic engine parameters for fuel economy can expect to see about a 0.5-mpg improvement in fuel economy, according to a new report from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE).

During a presentation at the Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting in Nashville, NACFE claimed fleets not using parameters to optimize fuel economy could see improvements as high as five to eight percent.

Much like users of common electronic devices such as smartphones and televisions, most fleets set only a fraction of the electronic engine parameters that can be used.

According to the report, engine parameters add no weight or cost, and don’t require any additional maintenance; they are already an integral part of the engine control software. These benefits make engine parameters unique among efficiency technologies, and contributed to the study team’s high confidence rating.

“Optimizing engine parameters is well worth the effort – it enhances fuel economy and saves fleets a lot of money. But the complexity of optimization is preventing many fleets from enjoying the benefits,” says Dave Schaller, North American Council for Freight Efficiency program manager.

The report focuses on six engine parameter categories:

• Vehicle speeds
• Vehicle configuration information
• Engine speed and torque limits
• Idle reduction
• Driver rewards
• Miscellaneous MPG-related features

The report offers insights and best practices to deal with the obstacles to programming and maintaining parameter settings. It also contains fleet and dealer perspectives on setting and using electronic engine parameters, a summary of service tools available from engine manufacturers, and a parameter names comparison chart.

You can download the full report at www.truckingefficiency.org.

“A direct source of fuel savings is waiting in the wings behind engine programming, and a better understanding of engine programming will help all trucking segments and other industries improve their energy performance,” said Yves Provencher, director of FPInnovations’ Performance Innovation Transport (PIT) group.

PIT has received funding from the Quebec government to start a commercial vehicle engine programming project to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The focus of the project is to guide engine manufacturers on developing parameters and setting defaults for various engine applications, and to guide fleets on which parameters to use based on a truck’s application.

“There are over 200 configurable parameters available to fleets, free of charge, to optimize engine performance based on usage, yet over 80 percent of engines sold are specified with the default settings,” Provencher told todaystrucking.com.

Parameters will be developed for long haul, regional, delivery, refuse, forestry trucks and buses.

The project will help manufacturers and fleets optimize new engines, and the programming parameters developed for targeted applications will be useful when a truck changes vocation.

 


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