Natural Resources Canada – through the FleetSmart Program- commissioned a national survey on fuel economy. The survey, conducted by L-P Tardif & Associates Inc., focused on 42 inter-city transport fleets operating Class 7 and 8 power units. Following are the highlights from the survey.

The average fuel efficiency of the fleets was 39.5 L/100 km (7.15 mpg.) in 1999. This excludes fleets operating B-trains, which had a substantially lower average fuel efficiency. The fleets’ fuel efficiency varied as much as 3 to 5 L/100 km (0.5 to 1.0 mpg.) between summer and winter, without considering travel distances or other factors.

Some fleets improved fuel efficiency by as much as 10 L/100 km (1.5 mpg.) when they switched from mechanical engines to the first generation of electronic engines. When they later switched to the new generation of electronic engines, they improved fuel efficiency by a further 4 L/100 km (0.5 m.p.g.). Advanced vehicle aerodynamics improved fuel efficiency, in some cases by an estimated 10 percent of the fleet average.

Close to 70 percent of the fleets delivered some form of driver training in fuel efficiency; about 24 percent had driver incentive programs.

Policies on maximum vehicle speed varied significantly from fleet to fleet. About five percent of the fleets specified a maximum highway speed of 90 km/h.

About half of the fleets programmed engines to automatically shut off after two to 15 minutes of idling.

Almost 95 percent of the fleets checked tire pressure regularly. But the definition of “regularly” varied significantly.

Some fleets estimated that regular maintenance may have improved fuel efficiency by up to 1.5 percent.