OTTAWA — Extended double trailer configurations on highways help cut vehicle emissions and improve traffic safety, according to a newly released stuffy conducted by the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) in cooperation with Resources Canada.

The two-year study, says CTA, involved the collection of live data from ten fleets from western Canada and Quebec that operate the units — referred as “turnpike doubles” in the industry — and single trailers.

It found that turnpike doubles are about two to three times safer than the “overall tractor-trailer population traveling Ontario’s multi-lane highways when measured on a per-vehicle-kilometre-of travel basis.”

Furthermore, the units are estimated to save on average of 28.8 litres of diesel per 100 km of truck travel when compared to single-trailer configurations moving the same volume of freight — a 55 percent saving.

The extra loading capacity also means turnpike doubles could reduce the number of trucks on the road by between 6 and 10 percent, adds CTA.

CTA is lobbying for turnpike doubles on more Canadian
hwys. How long until we see U.S. style double 53s here too?

The study was conducted by third party consulting firms and overseen by a steering committee that included representatives from Climate Change Central, the Centre for Sustainable Transportation, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada and the Canada Safety Council.

According to CTA, the study was the first to use live operational data from fleets operating turnpike doubles to calculate the environmental and safety benefits of these configurations.

Overall, the study estimated that 900 million kilometres of truck travel would be saved annually by an expansion of the turnpike double network, resulting in a reduction of 260 million litres of fuel and 730 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases per year.

“These trucks have been operating for a long period of time in Western Canada, Quebec and 17 US states without any safety issues,” says CTA CEO David Bradley. “The data now shows that the safety performance of these vehicles is stellar and that those provinces utilizing these truck configurations are reaping huge climate change rewards.”

According to the study, the big winners of an expanded turnpike double network would be Ontario, followed by Quebec and the Maritimes. It is estimated that for freight movements in Ontario alone, the annual savings would be 54 million litres of fuel and 151 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases. The creation of a turnpike double system from the Maritimes to Ontario would create an annual fuel savings of 106 million litres of fuel and 297 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases.

Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, said in a statement that the study is part of the federal government’s commitment to figure out ways to “reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.”

Bradley cite dthe study as another example of how the trucking industry “continues to present viable options to government for the reduction of emissions related to both climate change and smog.”

New trucks are running on some of the cleanest, emissions-free engines on the road; Progressive truckers use speed reduction technology and aerodynamics to reduce fuel consumption,” and now “we have another option for further improvement of the industry’s environmental performance,” says Bradley. “Governments should heed this closely.”