Yves Provencher:

After Performance Innovations Transport (PIT) revealed results of five years of performance evaluations on trailers equipped with side skirts and undercarriage aerodynamic devices, a bit of a controversy followed.

You can read the report here or Rolf Lockwood’s very excellent blog on testing parameters here.

That particular issue aside for the moment, what’s true in this day and age of new fuel saving technologies, types of fuel, and computerized widgets that make trucks go, is the need for legitimate testing with results that prove that buying those newfangled devices are indeed worth the investment.

We caught up with PIT Director Yves Provencher in Orlando during the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference and Exhibition to talk testing, natural gas, and pitting cabovers against conventionals.

JR: So, it seems your side skirt and undercarriage test results have garnered some controversy. What are your thoughts on the issue?

YP: I’ve heard all kinds of different issues with this. For instance, some people have tried to discredit our procedure — and that’s fine; we know we’re solid and we know we’ve done our test work and repeated the tests before we published. I’ve had other tests done in wind tunnels that confirm our tests as well. So I have no issue with the quality of our tests.

What’s interesting is that people are saying ‘I don’t care if it doesn’t save fuel, as long as it is safe, as long as there is no maintenance and I can access California with this, it’s great.” [laughs].

JR: Transport Robert has brought over a couple of Volvo cabovers to see how they perform against North American conventionals. Where are you guys with the testing?

YP: We’ve done the tests but we don’t have the results yet. What is important to understand about those Volvo trucks is that it is an 18-month test and the goal is to yes, see if there is true fuel economy there — we’re not sure so that’s why we are measuring it — but there’s also a big issue about the handling of those trucks. They are more compact so will be easier to maneuver in tight spaces, and you can also have longer cargo — in this case windmill equipment so you need a longer trailer. And you’ve heard the discussion in Ontario in looking at going to 57.5 ft. trailers. So if we can cut the nose off those trucks, we can put more cargo in.

JR: A couple of objections to cabovers has been that the driver is sitting on top of the engine and vibrating, and that it’s also more work for technicians to get to the engine. Are those things you’re taking into account?

YP: That is something we will evaluate. For instance, to do the pre-trip inspection you don’t need to tilt the cab. The nice surprise we had was that the first driver came out of the truck and said “Wow, that rides just as nice as my truck.” People always refer to “those cabovers from 20 years ago,” they don’t remember that their regular truck from 20 years ago rode rough as well. So I don’t think driver comfort will be a big issue — and the driver who has it right now is quite excited about the truck. He’s finding new features that he didn’t have in his other truck, he can play with the beams to orient the headlights. I don’t think it will be a big issue, but obviously we’ll have to see if it’s a big issue for the technicians — or the driver forgets to put everything away and the technician tilts the cab and it all ends up in the windshield! So you need to consider that. But Europeans — and everywhere else in the world — have been using it and they’re maintaining it. But, yes, that is something we want to evaluate.

Transport Robert is the lead on this and we’re assisting them on these tests. One issue that we have is that the wheelbase on these trucks is very different from ours; the kingpin on the trailer is located according to the wheelbase they have in Europe and we couldn’t find a trailer that could close the gap as much as we wanted to during the test, so we had to do the test on a flatbed trailer. Which is fine, but doesn’t give us the right taste of what these trucks can do and that’s something that we will hopefully test over the longer period — and we couldn’t bring a trailer from Europe because those trailers are higher and wouldn’t go under an overpass.

A Cocktail of Solutions

JR: A lot of good stuff came out of the Natural Gas Vehicle Conference in September and PIT was there. What stood out for you?

YP: What I heard was — and we’re close with Robert — is that it is a much more rougher ride than was anticipated. But I think the benefit is there and it’s worth the effort. And there are all kinds of other suppliers coming on board with natural gas and that will create more competition and therefore suppliers will have to be a little bit aggressive to solve the problems.

Are you excited about DME?

I’m excited that we have more and more options for fuel. There is no silver bullet. We need natural gas, we need DME, and we need propane and electric — we need all of those. I always refer to it as a cocktail of solutions and DME just enriches that cocktail. From what I know of it, it seems that while there are still some uncertainties in the air, the trucks will be less expensive obviously because all the work that’s done to convert that fuel is done before, so when you get that fuel it’s almost ready to use compared to LNG trucks that are way more expensive and heavier and create a lot of issues. And the government needs to see if it wants to accelerate the adoption of LNG trucks, so are they going to give a break to those people with the heavier tanks and trucks? All these fuels have a benefit and we need to find a niche for them. DME has big potential. Originally we were talking about converting black liquor from paper mills to DME — as Canadians we have a lot of paper mills — but that option is very expensive. It seems that going from natural gas to DME is the preferred option right now. But it’s still early and the trucks won’t be available for another couple of years.

JR: How’s the conference going for you so far?

YP: We’re starting to be quite present in the United States, and we have a lot of pull to come here, which is new to us. So that’s why I’m here today, to analyze whether it’s a real pull. We are also looking at organizing an Energotest down south, in Texas in the winter — certainly not to only serve the American market but to also serve our Canadians who come to us in October and November and ask ‘When is the next campaign? I need to test my product’ And we tell them June and they say “I have to wait that long?!” So if we can tell them that in January or February we have a campaign in Texas, that will make a campaign every four months and will make more sense as a business and as a service provider to those people. So we will likely organize one for this February but we’re still looking at the costs.