Energy Efficiency Strategies for Freight Trucking: Potential Impact on Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

Trucking is the dominant mode of domestic freight and offers a substantial opportunity to improve transportation energy efficiency and reduce the emission of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs). In response, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing the voluntary Ground Freight Transportation Initiative, which will work with all industry sectors associated with freight movement as well as local governments to improve efficiency and reduce emissions through a range of voluntary actions. These actions may include best management practices, operational improvements, and advanced technologies. Strategies that EPA and partners will investigate as potential measures that could improve the environmental performance and energy efficiency of one subsector of ground freight, the trucking sector, are explored. Eight trucking strategies are assessed, including technological innovations and humanfactor (operations) strategies. All are commercially available (or, for operations, feasible) today, but most have achieved little market penetration. Each strategy is briefly described, and each strategy’s impact on the fuel economy of a typical freight truck is assessed. Then estimations of the current and potential maximum market penetration of each strategy as well as the potential reductions of U.S. GHG emissions resulting from national adoption of the strategy are presented. At a national participation rate of 50%, the total maximum benefit of the initiative in 2010 would be a reduction of 3.0 billion gallons of fuel and 8.3 million metric tons of carbonequivalent emissions.