^SmartWay
Transport Partnership
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Idle Reduction
Profile
USA TRUCK8
USA Truck
Company Profile
Headquarters Location
Van Buren, Arkansas
Contact:
Chris Carter,
Technical Development
SmartWay Transport
Partnership Representative
(479)471-3873
qccarte@usa-truck.com
Number of Employees:
3,300
Strategy Category:
Idle reduction
Number of Trailers:
5,972
Number of Power Units:
2,565
In 2005, USA Truck became a member of the SmartWay Transport
Partnership. USA Truck's idle reduction strategy is multi-pronged, but cen-
ters around three core goals: (1) training drivers about the financial and
environmental benefits of saving fuel, (2) providing drivers with the necessary
resources to reduce idle times, and (3) monitoring idle times and holding each
driver accountable for his/her own idling. Strategies to reduce idle times include
auxiliary power units, block heaters and automatic engine shutoff devices. USA
Truck estimates that each truck using these three strategies will save 1500 gal-
lons of fuel per year. At today's fuel prices, this amounts to a per-truck savings
of over $4,000!
USA Truck began by testing an over-the-road tractor equipped with an APU in
2004. This tractor traveled 230,000 miles and saved 2160 gallons of fuel due to
APU use, accounting for a 6 percent increase in fuel efficiency. USA Truck has
been able to eliminate one oil drain per year on its trucks with APUs because of
reduced idling. It also found that the yearly maintenance costs for an APU are
roughly equal to the cost of this single oil drain. USA Truck estimates a return
on investment for its APUs of 1.5 to 2 years. By the end of 2006, USA Truck
had 25 APUs in its fleet; these APUs combined to save over 27,000 gallons of
fuel!
In the coming years, USA Truck plans to adopt new strategies to save even
more fuel. These strategies include fuel efficient tires, using more low-friction
engine lubricants and improved aerodynamics. Chris Carter, manager of
Technical Development and Fuel Economy, said: "At USA Truck, our goal is to
meet or exceed our customer's expectations in all that we do, which includes
being as efficient as possible in our operations. We aim to reduce fuel con-
sumption, which in turn reduces our environmental footprint, by adopting fuel
efficient strategies and utilizing fuel saving technologies. Becoming a partner
with SmartWay was a natural fit in our objective to improving efficiency."
http://www.epa.gov/smartway
EPA420-F-07-OI3
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