Logistics efficiency and emissions. Is it a question of loading?
Paul Featherstone, Director at SugaRich, discusses why a revision in gross vehicle weights (GVW) may be the way forward on reduced transport emissions.
In every sector, ways are being sought to reduce carbon footprints, and quickly. Transport and logistics play a significant part in this focus, as just about everything we humans consume must be transported. The distribution network is vast, especially in the food industry – whether it’s the human or animal food chain. I believe that we should work with the technology that we have
here and now, until developments are realistic and reliable enough to fully alleviate the burdens of transport based on fossil fuels. We have seen the rise of the electric car in the domestic market. However, I think we need to wait quite a bit longer before electric truck fleets are established and play catch up in the logistics sectors.
Let’s not stall while technology catches up As we head towards the government’s 2050 target of total electric vehicle use, how can we improve our efficiencies now, with existing truck fleets, LNG (liquid natural gas) and CNG (compressed natural gas) capabilities and other green practices? With a little creative thinking, and a bit of maths, we can do better now and start to make a real and significantly positive impact on transport emissions. When it comes to transport logistics in the UK, according to
the Department of Transport, lorry traffic increased by 1.2% from 2016, continuing a steady growth trend from the previous five years; that equates to 17 billion lorry miles. Surely, we must reduce this figure? Regarding truck/lorry loading, the UK’s weight limit is 44 tonnes
for large articulated vehicles with six axles. However, there isn’t a level playing field across Europe on GVW. Some countries allow more, up to 60+ tonnes. Their rationale implies a significant reduction in emissions and greenhouse gas, as trucks take a greater load per trip, thereby reducing the amount of on-road transportation time/miles. The compound feed production sector in the UK produced a total
of 16,720 tonnes of feed in 2018. Even if we, in the UK, increased our lorry loading limits to 50 tonnes that would equate up to 14% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions throughout UK vehicle fleets. Increasing the allowance to even 58 tonnes, would result in up to 32% reduction in emissions. This is why I say, ‘work with what we’ve got’. We are not in a
position presently to electrify the UK’s truck fleets – who knows how far in the future before we can! Also, will the uptake be as successful as electric cars? The other consideration is that when taking into account the big, articulated 44 tonne trucks for long-distance fleets, then the options are somewhat limited. At very best, effective battery power on hybrid vehicles realistically extends to nothing larger than 18 tonne trucks presently, and for predominantly urban settings. This doesn’t work for long haul, heavy transportation.
PAGE 26 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 FEED COMPOUNDER
We need to work with what we’ve got, not wait for electric truck technology to catch up, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport now, says Paul Featherstone
Re-evaluate, rather than negate Instead, why don’t we examine the design and build of existing trucks and adapt their usage accordingly? While the UK Department of Transport launched a trial1
using longer semi-trailers for lorries, it
invited participants to work within the weight constraints of only 44 tonnes of cargo for six axle trucks. Yet, for a while now, scientific research has supported the effectiveness of increasing payloads to reduce gas emissions in transport logistics. A research paper published by Elsevier as far back as 2012 entitled: ‘Reducing freight transport CO2
emissions by increasing load factor’2 analysed
the relationship between vehicle loads, energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. It supported the notion that increasing truck payloads
was a viable means of reducing CO2 emissions. Another main driver
of the proposition was that rising transport costs was an incentive to increase loading rates. Other countries operate with higher load rates for their truck fleets
therefore, perhaps we should reconsider that there is some merit in this approach. So why not review national emissions in relation to gross vehicle weights, clearly and objectively? The association between emissions and efficiency need not be fraught. Perhaps we can be inspired by examples from our international peers, that one way isn’t the only way. To help achieve a realistic impact on greenhouse gas emissions in the near-term, we must review the current constraints on maximum permitted loading weights on trucks.
www.sugarich.co.uk
1.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/longer-semi-trailer- trial
2.
https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1877042812027358?tok en=79C36D4A534D1820767191F89AB471BDBBE514ECF8DBC26 C12548596AF7548890732A25EBD27DA744A930DF5350E3C87
Comment section is sponsored by Compound Feed Engineering Ltd
www.cfegroup.com
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