OTTAWA, Ont. — A recent study by the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and Natural Resources Canada claims extended double trailer configurations known as turnpike doubles are two to three times safer than the overall tractor-trailer population travelling Ontarios multi-lane highways when measured on a per-vehicle-kilometre-of travel basis. The study says that turnpike doubles also represent a fuel savings of 55% when compared to single-trailer configurations moving the same volume of freight, with an average of 28.8 litres of diesel per 100 km of truck travel. Additionally, the longer configuration could reduce the number of trucks on the road by between 6% and 10%, CTA says.

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. 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, said David Bradley, president and CEO of CTA.

Canadas New Governments involvement in this study is part of our investment in the countrys infrastructure to address both the environment and the economy, said the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources. We are delivering on our commitment to Canadians to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.

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.

“The trucking industry continues to present viable options to government for the reduction of emissions related to both climate change and smog. Trucks are now running on clean fuel and near zero emission engines; they are increasingly using speed reduction and aerodynamic technologies to reduce fuel consumption, added David Bradley. We now have another option for further improvement of the industrys environmental performance. We believe governments should heed this closely.

The two-year study involved the collection of live data from 10 fleets from Western Canada and Quebec that operate turnpike doubles and single trailers. 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, Ontarios Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada and the Canada Safety Council.