An industry collaboration to optimize truck fleet operation
PACCAR, the American Fortune 500 company and leading truck manufacturer, has been working with The Ohio State University to enhance the efficiency of freight vehicles. Under this partnership, Ohio State and PACCAR are already working on the Department of Energy's (DOE) Super Truck II program, and they have successfully earned funding for another DOE project.
With the development of new powertrain technologies, fleet operators now have to choose from a wide range of trucks, each with a distinctive energy consumption profile. This newly funded three-year project, Co-optimization of Vehicle And Routes (CoVAR), aims to help the operators find the best fleet combination of truck portfolios. Working together with PACCAR, Esri, NERL and VALENCE, the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) could help the operators find the most appropriate strategies for different payloads and operations through modeling and simulating various possible combinations of trucks, fleet rotations and routes.
Qadeer Ahmed, Research Associate Professor with Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and Principle Investigator of the CoVAR project, is excited about the significance of this collaboration, “This project shows the confidence of industry on the interdisciplinary research happening at CAR. It will also provide Ohio State students with the opportunity to work with our industry partners and national labs.”
The DOE SuperTruck II program aims to improve freight efficiency by more than 100% and demonstrate 55% engine brake thermal efficiency in Class 8 trucks, commonly known as 18-wheelers. These trucks haul 80% of goods in the United States and use about 28 billion gallons of fuel per year, accounting for around 22% of total transportation energy usage—presenting a significant opportunity to increase efficiency and reduce cost for a key segment of our nation's transportation sector. Lowering the trucks' fuel costs reduces the amount companies need to spend on transportation and can allow retailers to pass that savings to consumers.
PACCAR is a global technology leader in the design, manufacture and customer support of high-quality light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. PACCAR also designs and manufactures advanced powertrains, provides financial services and information technology, and distributes truck parts related to its principal business.
modified version of article by David Wang, CAR Writing Intern
