Governed speed for the carrier’s 8,400-tractor fleet is being lowered to 62 mph from its current 65 mph. The action by the less than truckload (LTL) carrier is not unique. Many operators across the country have sought to get better control of fuel use by regulating the speed at which their trucks can move.
What Con-Way Freight seeks to achieve with the three mile per hour reduction in speed is to cut diesel fuel consumption in its over the road tractor fleet by 3.2 million gallons annually. The action will also eliminate 72 million tons of carbon emissions from the environment.
At present Con-Way annually consumes 100 million gallons of diesel fuel in its LTL trucking operations. It has converted its fuel sources to 100% ultra-low sulfur diesel. The company is a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Program.
John G.Labrie, Con-way Freight’s president, notes, "Freight transportation, by its nature, is a significant consumer of carbon-based energy resources. Yet it also is one where if we look creatively at how we operate the business, we can find and adopt practices that reduce our carbon footprint and help the bottom line. Fuel conservation and cost savings aside, this speed reduction initiative will have the single largest impact on carbon footprint reduction of any operational or business practice change available to us."
