New Report Says Fleets Missing Out on Fuel Savings Through Engine Settings

[kscarbel2]

Heavy Duty Trucking / February 17, 2015

Fleets that optimize their electronic engine parameters for fuel economy can expect to see about a 0.5 mpg improvement in fuel economy, according to a new Confidence Report issued by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency at the Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting.

Fuel economy improvements of 5–8% are possible for fleets that previously have not used parameters to optimize for fuel economy.

Much like users of common electronic devices such as smartphones and televisions, most fleets set only a fraction of the electronic engine parameters that can be used.

According to the report, engine parameters add no weight or cost, and don’t require any additional maintenance; they are already an integral part of the engine control software. These benefits make engine parameters unique among efficiency technologies, and contributed to the study team’s high confidence rating.

“Optimizing engine parameters is well worth the effort — it enhances fuel economy and saves fleets a lot of money. But the complexity of optimization is preventing many fleets from enjoying the benefits,” says Dave Schaller, North American Council for Freight Efficiency program manager.

The Confidence Report focuses on six engine parameter categories:

• Vehicle speeds
• Vehicle configuration information
• Engine speed and torque limits
• Idle reduction
• Driver rewards
• Miscellaneous MPG-related features

NACFE identified eight barriers to changing the settings that arise at three specific points during the optimization process, among them:

Understanding Parameters

• The large number of parameters available requires extra effort to fully understand.
• Interrelations between multiple parameters and/or between parameters and other systems on the truck.

Selecting and Ordering Parameters:

• Each engine OEM has its own terminology and brand names for its parameters, and even some slight differences in how they function. Even within a single OEM there will be differences from one engine model to the next.
• The majority of fleets have multiple years and models of engines in active operation, sometimes from multiple OEMs.

Maintaining Parameters

• Variation in service tools and lack of telematics: Changes in duty cycles or even insights from new truck performance data may indicate that a certain parameter should be altered on a group of trucks. But right now changing parameters requires someone physically connecting with the truck. This can be a time-consuming task for a large fleet. Telematics technology would allow for parameters to be updated remotely.
• Negative reactions from drivers: Fleets must communicate the benefits of parameters to their drivers, as often a driver’s initial reaction to anything that places restrictions on vehicle operation is quite negative.

The report offers insights and best practices to deal with the obstacles to programming and maintaining parameter settings. It also contains fleet and dealer perspectives on setting and using electronic engine parameters, a summary of service tools available from engine manufacturers, and a parameter names comparison chart.

Download the full report at www.truckingefficiency.org.

[kscarbel2]

Too good to be true? Appropriate engine settings offer obvious fuel efficiency benefits

Fleet Owner / February 18, 2015

At any major trucking trade show, the exhibition hall will feature dozens of vendors who market various solutions for improving fuel economy and saving on fuel costs. Mike Roeth’s pitch at this week’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting is unique: He’s giving his product away, and he has the data to prove it works.

As executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), Roeth leads Trucking Efficiency, an initiative set up by NACFE and the Carbon War Room (CWR) that aims to double the efficiency of the North American trucking fleet. To achieve this goal, the organization evaluates current technologies, discusses challenges and best practices for their adoption, and provides figures on performance gains and payback periods.

Simply, the program is designed to help fleets make better decisions and, collectively, save billions of dollars.

The fifth and latest “confidence report,” focused on electronic engine parameters, has just been published. And, based on Trucking Efficiency’s grid to assess whether a technology will be effective, optimizing engine settings is a fuel efficiency home run.

Speaking to trade media in Nashville for TMC, Roeth compared a truck engine to a smart phone: “Once you’ve gone through the effort of programming them, you love them,” he said.

The catch is taking the time to understand the many possibilities for setting up an engine to suit the truck’s operations.

As explained by NACFE Program Manager Dave Schaller, there are more than 100 different parameters that control a modern diesel engine. A fleet survey found three levels of complexity as to how these settings are commonly used.

Most basically, an engine is left with the factory default settings. The middle level comprises changes to a few obvious settings, such as a vehicle speed limit. At the top, the optimized level means a fleet has worked with an engine maker or a fleet expert to fully exploit the array of options.

Moving from the basic settings to the middle level can deliver a 3 to 5 percent improvement in fuel economy, Schaller continued, while a fully optimized engine can deliver an 8 percent improvement – or even more.

“This is pretty exciting,” Schaller said. “I don’t know of any other area here at TMC that doesn’t cost anything extra, doesn’t add extra weight to the truck, and it theoretically doesn’t add any maintenance – it doesn’t break. So it’s a really neat area.”

The challenge, of course, is getting those settings right – especially when a change to one setting can impact the performance of another. And the proprietary programming that underlies the improved fuel economy of fully integrated powertrains adds even more complexity.

A discussion about a fleet’s ideal operational profile should be part of ordering a new tractor, with the parameters to be set accordingly at the factory. But that’s often not the case, the researchers found. And it’s also not uncommon for the parameters to be reset at a specially center for finishing touches, or even in final prep at the dealer.

Complicating the matter, OEMs often use different terms for essentially the same settings.

For those fleets that do pay attention to engine settings, the survey found that templates often are used for simplicity and consistency. However, the survey also found “a huge drop off” in engine optimization that corresponds to fleet size.

As an electrical engineer who helped develop programmable engine technology, Schaller noted that “this is way more complex than it needs to be.”

“What we know is that optimizing the parameters is definitely worth the effort,” Schaller said. “It pays back. It enhances fuel economy and saves fleets money, but the complexity of optimizing is preventing many fleets from enjoying the benefit.”

To help fleets take advantage of the technology, the confidence report includes a variety of tools and recommendations, while Roeth offers additional thoughts on FleetOwner.com’s IdeaXchange.

[Green Dash]

My employer takes advantage of the trucks software to improve fuel economy but like many fleets, all trucks are programmed the same. I don't think the one size fits all approach works when half the fleet logs most of its miles in hilly terrain and the other half operates in areas that are flat for the most part. Since all tractors are based at a specific terminal and return home at the end of each shift, I'm curious if region/terminal specific settings would help overall fuel economy.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Given that many fleets now operate a relay system or within a set radius of an intermodal facility, programming and speccing a truck for generic Interstate operation often makes no sense. The manufacturers offer customizability, and the users need to take advantage of it!

[Green Dash]

Given that many fleets now operate a relay system or within a set radius of an intermodal facility, programming and speccing a truck for generic Interstate operation often makes no sense. The manufacturers offer customizability, and the users need to take advantage of it!

Exactly. It's not as if they were buying R models and ordering half 237's and half 300's. The adjustments a relatively simple and can be changed as needed.