The announcement was made Sunday when the groups released their newest Confidence Report on such accessories at the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn.
Unlike some past Confidence Report studies that uncovered significant freight efficiency benefits, Mike Roeth, operations lead at Trucking Efficiency and NACFE executive director, says the advantages of engine-driven accessories appear minimal but, in specific cases, have the potential to grow.
“Variable engine-driven accessories present relatively small opportunities for gains in fuel efficiency, but they may provide better payback with further development,” he says. “There’s not a lot of opportunity in the short term.”
In building its new report Roeth says Trucking Efficiency’s team defined engine-driven accessories as products that consume fuel but don’t help move a vehicle down the road. Typically, these accessories use about 3 to 5 percent of the overall fuel consumed by Class 8 tractor-trailers. Trucking Efficiency concludes current fuel prices make justifying the added cost for variable engine-driven accessories hardware that improves fuel economy difficult, and the added complexity of these systems creates concerns about their reliability.
“The fuel economy gains are pretty modest,” and for some technologies are actually declining due to other technology advancements, Roeth says.
The new report provides details on 2-speed/modulating cooling fans, variable speed water pumps, clutched air compressors, high-efficiency alternators, smart air dryers, dual displacement power steering pumps, electrically driven A/C compressors, and electrically driven accessories. It also explores some of the challenges presented by these technologies.
