Until electric vehicles and hybrids become de rigueur, fossil fuels will continue to power the vast majority of America’s automobiles for the foreseeable future.
And as it happens, America’s lumbering big rigs use up a lot of this non-renewable resource. A Fast Company article puts it bluntly: “Trucks are miserable when it comes to gas mileage. America’s 2.2 million freight trucks get about six miles per gallon on average, usually with cargo.” All told, that’s 36 billion gallons of diesel fuel burned annually by freighters.
But a study from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that adding trailer skirts, tail fins and other drag-reducing devices to America’s fleet of semi trucks can mean big savings in fuel consumption and dollars, as well as significantly cut CO2 emissions, Ensia reports.
The skirt (which is attached to the lower sides of a trailer) and the tail (which is affixed to the back) works by reducing air resistance over and around the vehicle as it moves along the road. According to a news release, researchers found that these panels — which are only utilized by 3 to 4 percent of the nation’s semi trucks — can reduce aerodynamic drag by as much as 25 percent, which represents about a 13 percent decrease in fuel consumption.
“Even a minor improvement in a truck’s fuel economy has a significant impact on its yearly fuel consumption,” says lead researcher Kambiz Salari in a statement. “For example, 19 percent improvement in fuel economy, which we can achieve, translates to 6.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel saved per year and 66 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. For diesel fuel costing $3.96 per gallon, the savings is about $26 billion.”
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It might take some time and effort to retrofit millions vehicles with these fashionable-sounding accessories, but the hardware would help the nation’s heavy-duty trucks meet President Obama’s strict new fuel standards (he’s ordered a 10 to 20 percent increase in fuel economy by 2018, depending on class of truck). In a speech, the president noted that these vehicles only make up 4 percent of traffic on America’s roads, but account for 20 percent of the carbon pollution from the transportation sector.
Encouragingly, California’s trucks are already suiting up. The state’s Air Resources Board mandated the installation of trailer skirts in 2013, and it’s already paying off for some. A trucking company owner tells the Times-Tribune that the skirts, which cost about $1,500 to $2,000 each, pay for themselves in three or four years. Another trucking owner adds that they also save two-tenths to three-tenths of a mile per gallon on a trip, which amounts $2,000 to $3,000 in savings, per year, per truck.
Tag: semi-trailers
Sustainable Furniture Company Puts Veterans to Work
What’s more all-American than serving your country in the Armed Forces? Well, for one, furniture that’s made in America by U.S. veterans.
As more young servicemen return home in search of work, the Arkansas-based company EcoVet is tapping into the veteran workforce to create all-American, sustainable furniture.
The company, which launched in 2011, trains former service members to design and create high-end furniture out of reclaimed materials from old semi-trailers — typically from Walmart — that are destined for landfills. Rather than adding to trash heaps, EcoVet strips materials from trailers like oak or maple floors to create custom-made items like an Adirondack chair, which retails for $850. The company also donates other parts such as plywood to the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity and tires to automobile shops.
EcoVet has trained and hired 28 veterans since its inception and aims to employ 500 over the next three years. Focusing on college-aged U.S. veterans — which have a staggering unemployment rate of 24 percent — EcoVet pays its workers about $15 an hour along along with stock options and flexible hours to help those that are going back to school.
“They’ve been taught how to get things done,” co-founder Drake Vanhooser told Fast Company. “They all have the skill of being adaptable.”
Thirty-year-old EcoVet shift manager Jeremy Higgs is pursuing an associate’s degree in agriculture, food and life sciences at a local community college. The veteran-friendly environment means employees are understanding of outside responsibilities as well as emotional issues including PTSD.
“Everyone is going through some issues,” Higgs said. “We give each other advice.”
EcoVet is slated to open three more decommission centers in Chicago, the Carolinas and Nevada to add to its Springdale, Arkansas factory. The first is expected to open in the next 18 months. With 15,000 to 20,000 scrap heap trailers going to waste each year, EcoVet is hoping to remove 10,000 trailers from the stream of garbage annually.
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Expansion shouldn’t be too difficult for a sustainable product that’s American-made by U.S. vets, according to Adrian Dominguez, the vice president for business development for EcoVet’s parent company, EcoArk. “It’s a profit center for us,” he said. “We manufacture furniture and wood accessories, and we are able to label it as 100 percent recycled, repurposed wood, made by American veterans, right here in the United States.”
Aside from furnishing Walmart vendors, EcoVet has managed to partner with wholesale retailer Sam’s Club, which features two lines on its website. EcoVet is also developing a high-end line for upscale retailers for the likes of stores like Macy’s.
The hope is to not only eventually pluck all scrap heap trailers out of U.S. waste, but to create a welcoming environment where vets can be proud of their work, too.
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