TORONTO — It’s easy to grow at least a bit weary hearing how other folks are saving the planet while you’re trying to make a buck. So here’s a sampling of a few buckmakers who manage to weave environmentalism into capitalism.

When J.D. Smith & Sons of Vaughan, Ont., reconfigured the heating system in their warehouses so the temperatures were adjusted automatically and according to zones, the company saw a near-immediate 50-percent cut in its natural-gas bills.

And while company President Scott Smith is the first to say that it feels good to be green, he also knows it really doesn’t make sense unless it contributes to the bottom line.

Bison was one of the first Canadian fleets to
implement a fuel management training department.

Recently, his company was rewarded with the first-ever SCL/Transport Canada “Green Supply Chain Award” in honor of the company’s environmentally sound trucking practices.

Smith has also installed cab heaters and pursues a rigorous recycling program in the maintenance shops. He adds they have retrofitted all the lighting in their warehouses and offices with high-pressure sodium tubes. That resulted in an immediate 27-percent cut in electricity costs, Smith says.

“We’re in the middle of replacing a roof on one of our facilities,” says Smith, “and we’ve decided to go with an energy smart roof that’s a single ply and apparently getting a substantial R-value increase.”

“It’s all part of a corporate mindset but we won’t do it unless it makes good business sense.”

Oil’s well that ends well:

Rob McDonald, founder and president of Apps Transport Group, credits Puradyn aftermarket bypass oil filters for effectively doubling the life of his fleet’s engine oil. “At $600 per truck, the filter pays for itself in 18 months and we use about 7,500 less liters of oil every year.”

McDonald’s a green enthusiast and says capping his fleet at 105 km/h a few years ago led to another immediate saving of $7,000 per year per truck.

“Not only did you save diesel but it also cuts wear and tear on the trucks — the drivetrains, the brakes, the whole system.”

Smart fleets have figured out a way to be
green and make green at the same time.

McDonald hates idling trucks and has set his fleet’s idle time to five minutes. He says, “it’s a total myth” that it costs as much to turn an engine on and off as it does to idle it. “It’s probably perpetrated by some cowboy driver,” he says.

Following the buffalo:

The entire Bison fleet has automated transmissions and auxiliary power units. Speed is capped across the fleet at 105 km/h.

Still, says Bison’s President Don Strueber, “the better drivers will obtain better fuel efficiency.” So the company measures the drivers against one another and rewards those who obtain the best mileage.

“What does it come down to? Remember when you’re father taught you to drive and said ‘no more jackrabbit starts?’ It’s all about those kind of behaviors.”

Bison was recently recognized by the Environmental Protection Association’s (EPA) very first SmartWay Transport Awards program for effective equipment purchasing as well as incorporating special fuel-management training techniques to help reduce greenhouse gas emission and fuel consumption.

Bison takes a three-prong approach to training: Computer-based modules; classroom instruction; and state of the art full motion simulation.

I-800-GOTGAS:

After almost 20 years of picking up junk hither and yon and growing its balance sheet exponentially, Vancouver-based 1-800-GOTJUNK has decided to save money on diesel by not buying any more.

They’re trading in the diesel fleet for gas power. Craig Jooste is the fleet manager for the franchise, and he oversees almost 1,000 medium-duty Isuzu NPR series and GM 4500 series trucks, GVW: 14,500. Because the fleet is limited to big-city pick-up and drop-off, they only travel about 25,000 a year. And because 1-800-GOTJUNK is painfully conscious of its public image, the trucks must be sold after eight years. So, he says, the engines have a measly 200,000 clicks.

Jooste says that last year, they decided that the company no longer requires the longevity that comes with diesel engines. Not coincidentally, he says, the move to gas also helps the company avoid the ’07 and 2010 low-emission spec for diesels.