Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1004801
commercial carrier journal | july 2018 29 Shell, Airflow tout Starship results S hell Lubricants and Airflow Truck Co. announced the results of the Starship Ini- tiative demonstration run, a six-day 2,410-mile trip along Interstate 10 from San Diego to Jacksonville, Fla. While the Starship's fuel economy averaged 8.94 mpg, it achieved a freight-ton efficiency average of 178.4 ton-miles per gallon, a 248 percent improvement over the on-highway Class 8 industry average of 72 ton-mpg. Although mpg is a commonplace metric, it doesn't tell the whole story, said Shell Lubricants' Bob Mainwairing, technology manager for innovation and Starship Technology lead. "If you are obsessing about increasing mpg, that motivates a story of 'Go slow, go light' – fewer goods transported means a lighter vehicle and better fuel economy. As a better alternative, we use freight-ton efficiency, because it assess- es the amount of fuel required to move an amount of goods between A and B with the theory of 'Go slow, go heavy.' " Starship designer Bob Sliwa, owner of Airflow Truck Co., incorporated a host of design elements to lower vehicle weight, including a carbon-fiber tractor body and hood and Bridgestone Ecopia wide-base single tires. But Sliwa said the addition of aerodynamic devices, roll cage tubing, trailer-mounted solar panels and other components to improve fuel efficiency brought the Starship tractor-trailer in at a conventional weight of 33,100 pounds. e Starship carried a 39,900-pound payload of reef material for a conservation project off the Atlan- tic Coast. Shell worked with the North Ameri- can Council for Freight Efficiency to verify the accuracy of the results using telematics data and an observer who followed the Starship during its run and calculated fuel consumption at the pump. Mike Roeth, executive director of NACFE, said the 73,000-pound GVWR made the Starship fuel economy demonstration run unique. "ere aren't a lot of industry benchmarks at high weight," Roeth said. "[Shell Starship] carried a much heavier load than many average truckers on the road carry and traveled a longer route in an uncontrolled environment with a variety of technologies not tested in these real-world conditions." NACFE used an estimated 57,000-pound GVWR/22,500-pound payload on-highway Class 8 average for comparison. "Every 10,000 pounds of freight loses a half-mile per gallon in fuel economy, but while you lose mpg, you gain efficiency," Roeth said. "I think the demonstration helped bring freight-ton efficiency to light." Carlos Maurer, Shell Lubricants America president, said if all 2 million trucks in the United States matched the Starship's freight-ton efficiency, it would result in a re- duction of 229 million tons of CO2 per year, a 60 percent drop from current levels. "We believe there is an energy challenge, and there isn't any single solution that is going to accomplish the goals needed to get through this energy transition," said Megan Pino, Shell Rotella global brand manager and Starship Initiative team leader. "is is one idea, and it is a good material example of what we can do today in order to realize some of these efficiencies and CO2 reduction improvements while still looking toward the future at any of the number of different technologies that are going to be needed down the road." – Jeff Crissey The Starship tractor-trailer averaged 178.4 ton-miles per gallon and 8.94 mpg during its cross-country run. States, Germany and Japan. "By establishing our new global E-Mobility Group, we can maximize the effectiveness of our investments in this strategic key technology," said Daum, noting that Daimler has been working on electric projects dat- ing back to 2010 with its first Fuso eCanter prototype. "is will enable us to provide our customers with the best solutions in battery systems, charging systems and energy manage- ment. E-mobility is one important part of our company for the future." Automated Truck R&D Center Daimler also plans to open an Au- tomated Truck Research and Devel- opment Center at its headquarters in Swan Island, Ore. e center will be dedicated to developing automated driving technology and understanding its impact on society and benefits for customers. Engineers there will lean on resourc- es from Daimler Trucks locations in Stuttgart, Germany, and Bangalore, India. e team is charged with lever- aging the experience and knowledge from previous automated driving research performed across Daimler's vehicle divisions, including passenger cars. e three locations will work together, while R&D activities on auto- mated trucks in Germany also will be expanded to expedite and deepen the company's efforts in the field. e Swan Island center will focus on all aspects of development, testing and validation needed for high levels of au- tomation, including soware, sensors, machine learning and simulation, as well as the necessary adaptation of the base vehicle platform. e facility also will be a hub for co-creation, where customers, suppliers and business partners can collaborate to ensure the technology is calibrated to real-life applications. – Jason Cannon