SCDigest Editorial Staff

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Private fleet managers and common carriers are continuing to make physical improvements to trucks that they hope can reduce fuel usage. What do you say? Click Here to Send Us Your Comments Click Here to See Reader Feedback

With oil prices seeming on a never-ending climb and diesel cost now well over $4.00 per gallon in most areas of the US, companies are doing everything they can to reduce fuel consumption. Achieve those savings seemed important two years ago as diesel costs began to spike. Now, finding such savings has become an imperative to avoid letting transportation costs crush the bottom line.

Jim Lane, a senior director of logistics at children’s apparel maker Carter’s, says his company is putting more focus on building out full containers of product being sourced from Asia. For less than full container shipments, Carter’s is routing vendor shipments to consolidation centers near ports to maximize container utilization and reduce total ocean miles.

He said the company is also moving more containers via intermodal – total freight moved by rail is up 15% in the last year at the company. On the outbound side, Carter’s is trying to do a better job of outbound shipment consolidation, and is increasing its use of pool distribution for store deliveries.

Finally, Lane said the company is also being more proactive in collaborating with retail customers to identify backhaul opportunities.

Meanwhile, private fleet managers and common carriers are continuing to make physical improvements to trucks that they hope can reduce fuel usage. That includes adding auxiliary power units to run cabs when drivers are resting, rather than running the engine, automatic tire inflation systems, streamlining the aerodynamics of the equipment design and adding enhancements such as spoilers to reduce wind resistance.

Wal-Mart, for example, has stated a goal of doubling the fuel efficiency of its massive fleet by 2015 using these and other strategies. – a challenging goal, to be sure, but one which would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars or more annually.

Consumer goods maker SC Johnson is trying to increase its use of “day cab” vehicles – trucks without a sleeper berth. Those vehicles are 3000 pounds lighter and can deliver more pallets per trip.

(Transportation Management Article - Continued Below)