city-based pick-ups and deliveries.

But the most productive “green” initiatives for reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions at YRC are strategic rather than technological, Kelley said.

Fuel consumption increases about 2. 2 percent for each mile per hour above about 60. YRC catalogued speed limits on every road it drives, removed the 25 to 30 percent of routes where it never expected to hit the limit, and calculated that it cut about 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions by adhering to a 62 mph limit for its trucks, Kelley said.

Involving YRC’s vehicle maintenance staff in product testing and drivers in idling reduction and other initiatives also produced fuel economy and emissions benefits. “One thing I’ve learned about sustainability,” Kelley said, “is that you can be a teacher, but you really have to be a learner.”

 

U.S. Transportation Emissions Impacts Transport accounted for 29 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2006

Transport was the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, accounting for 47 percent of the net increase

Heavy-duty vehicles are the second largest U.S. source of greenhouse gases, accounting for 19 percent of transport’s 2003 total

Medium- and heavy-duty trucks used primarily for freight haulage accounted for 97 percent of heavy-duty emissions; buses account for the remaining 3 percent Emissions from heavy-duty sources increased 57 percent from 1990 to 2003, the biggest growth of any major transport source

Sources: EPA; i2 Technologies

Con-way gained improvements during a bottom-up review of equipment specifications in which drivers, mechanics and maintenance personnel got involved.

The company’s truckload division changed the size of its fuel tanks from 240 gallons to 200 gallons, based on reports that drivers rarely emptied them, according to Dave Miller, the carrier’s vice president of global policy and economic sustainability. That reduces fuel consumption and emissions by hauling around 600 lbs less than before, he said.

Con-way also eliminated intermodal lift pads, a seemingly marginal addition to the weight of some transportation equipment. But “it was just a matter of weighing the ounces here and the pounds there,” Miller said, “and that added up to a hundredweight overall” in some operations.

Some shippers prefer a more technological approach to their sustainability initiatives.

American Signature Furniture used to print paper delivery schedules sorted by ZIP code to serve its Value City and American Signature stores in 19 Eastern states. Some stores might get 15 sep-

arate deliveries a day, said Sonny Rice, ASF senior business analyst.

With new route optimization software by Intergis, schedules that used to take two hours a day to compile now take about 20 minutes, Rice said. Loads are also consolidated at ASF’s distribution centers so multiple deliveries are minimized.

Based on average dollar of product per mile traveled, Rice said he’s seen an average 11 percent improvement in transportation costs. Distribution centers are filling trucks more efficiently, fewer vehicles are in use and, presumably, less pollution is released into the air.

World Oil Consumption by Country
Bbls/year per capita

United States China Japan Russia Germany India Canada Brazil South Korea Saudi Arabia

0

5,000

10,000

15,000 20,000 25,000

in thousands of barrels

World oil consumption by country, per capita
Bbls/year per capita

Saudi Arabia
United States
Canada
South Korea
Japan
Germany
Russia
Brazil
China
India
0 5 10 15

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

20

25

30

“You get the obvious results — you drive fewer miles, your routes are laid out more efficiently,” said Rice. “Overall, it’s an environmentally friendly product to make everything more efficient.”

Yet a lot of work remains to be done, said Intergis President Steven Brown. “There have been a lot of tools that solve pieces of the puzzle,” he said, “but there haven’t been a lot of really good operational tools.”

Businesses are keen to don the mantle of the environmentally conscientious because of the undeniable marketing benefits before the buying public, “but there hasn’t been a lot of attention paid to measurement,” Brown said.

Intergis calculates costs per vehicle and cost per mile, for example, and allows software clients to customize captured data