It often goes un-documented just how damaging idling times are, both in regards to the environment and a company’s profit margins.
Ok BEFORE you read the whole post I’d just love you stop a while and marvel at the innovative and ingenious ideas of these guys in China who are working on alternative forms of public tranport run entirely on solar and large enough for the traffic to flow underneath whilst the passengers get on and off.
Why didn’t we think of this before?
This video is in Chinese Language but it doesn’t really matter because you can see exactly what they are demonstrating just by the images and animations. It really is a fantastic way to keep traffic on the move and help reduce carbon emissions. Think of all those times you are caught behind a bus and have to wait for several minutes for passengers getting off and on. Obviously these Chinese innovations are a long way in the future so you might need to read the rest of the post to get some good tips to make sure your fleet transport runs as effectively as possible to reduce carbon emissions and make those huge business savings.
New Idea for Solving Traffic Congestion in China (Cars can drive under)
Hope you enjoyed the WOW video. Amazing isn’t it? Are we seeing public transport of the future? I think so.
OK so just enjoy the post now as these are common sense tips which we can all apply, expecially in the trucking business, whilst we are waiting for innovative Chinese ideas to take shape. But don’t forget to leave a comment below let us know what you think.
Here are a few ways your fleet company can cut its carbon emissions as well as expenditure.
Consider alternate routes
Rather than traveling through high-traffic areas, it may be worthwhile to route delivery trucks along major thoroughfares and on less travelled roadways. Analysis of the data from a vehicle tracking system can provide valuable insight into areas that consistently cause slowdowns or prolonged stops. Idling trucks can produce large quantities of carbon emissions and can significantly increase the cost of fuel for these deliveries. Rerouting deliveries to avoid high-traffic areas can not only protect the environment but can boost the profit margin for these trucking assignments.
Timing is everything
Rush hour traffic can be a major source of air pollution. By scheduling deliveries and shipping runs to avoid these times, transportation companies can significantly reduce their overall carbon emissions and can avoid wear and tear on trucks as well. Prolonged idling can cause overheating and other damage to the vehicles in the fleet, so timing deliveries to coincide with lighter traffic can provide considerable cost savings for the company.
Get a tune-up
Proper maintenance of company vehicles can reduce the carbon emissions produced by these large trucks and may improve fuel economy as well. Well-maintained delivery vehicles create a better impression of the company and can extend the useful life of the trucks in the fleet, so it’s to the company’s advantage to ensure that all required maintenance is performed as scheduled.
Bypass villages
Small towns and villages often require frequent stops for intersections. The data available from an on-board vehicle tracking system can often identify areas where these stops are most frequent and allow the transportation company to adjust routes to bypass these time-consuming areas. By reducing fuel consumption, route drivers can decrease their environmental impact and help to prevent excessive carbon emissions and pollution during their regular activities.
Double up on deliveries
Managing the delivery schedule so that trucks can run fully loaded with cargo on both the outbound and inbound portions of the journey can not only improve the company’s financial bottom line but can reduce unnecessary carbon emissions as well. By planning the delivery schedule to allow trucks to run at full payload capacity as often as is feasible, companies can boost productivity, reduce wasted fuel and minimize carbon emissions while maintaining the same high volume of assignments.
Easy does it
By refraining from sharp acceleration and equally sharp braking, drivers can reduce wear and tear on their vehicles and significantly reduce the level of fuel consumption. Some studies indicate that proper driving techniques can reduce fuel usage and pollution by as much as 30 percent, so training company employees to drive less aggressively can be a cost-saving and green-friendly way to manage carbon emissions.
By incorporating these six tips into everyday operations, trucking and transportation companies can increase their environmental responsibility while reducing costs and increasing profits at the same time.
Author Bio
Jack Oldham is a journalism graduate blogging on behalf of Teletrac, who provide a wide range of fleet vehicle tracking solutions.
OMG isn’t that video amazing. I know I am probably not going to see this happen globally in my lifetime but I have no doubt that these things will be put in place and will definitely be the public transport of the future.
Maybe not in my lifetime either Sue. But it is all possible with massive investment into the infrastructure or towns and cities. And really as reducing our carbon emmissions is vital to help slow down or even try to reverse climate change and the ensuing disasters then every govt should be acting upon all of these brilliantly innovative ideas as soon as possible. Maybe china will just get on with it and become the superpower reducing our carbon emmissions with all the green jobs???
Brilliant. I presume this kind of technology for the public transport will mean that the cars and trucks on the roads will be those driverless cars so all the sensors work. It would be terrible if a silly truck driver accidentally tried to drive underneath thinking there would be enough headroom.
Yes it does look like they are using sensors in the animations for the public transport of the future ( for those of you who have watched the video BTW). And that is how driverless cars will work with sensors inbuilt into them.
Chinese or not I could understand the concept in the video. Thanks for adding this Karen. Its just a brilliant idea by the chinese for the future of public transport and will certainly prevent all those jams behind parked buses which in turn lead to those increased emmissions as you say. Many roads now have bus lanes to prevent traffic jams behind them and also so the buses can sail through without being caught in a traffic jam themselves. But this kind of idea would free up another lane and maybe these could be the wider cycling lanes that every town seriously needs.
Wow thats an even better idea freeing up the road lanes to increase the size of cycle lanes Jenson. Cycle lanes are far too narrow and then all of a sudden they disappear of force the cyclist to go onto the footpath. More reduction in carbon emmissions as more people take to their bikes!
The reduction of the levels of the carbon emission is one of the major need of today’s scenario. The video is worth watching, and makes the underlying idea of the post crystal clear. The tips shared for the reduction of carbon emission seems to be very helpful. I hope one day the world witness an emission free environment. Thanks for sharing such a valuable post.