Data is king. That’s certainly the case at SmartWay, which is on a mission to increase the efficiency of the freight transportation sector in Canada. But, historically, a lack of data held the industry back from making significant changes.
“That’s the biggest factor and that’s starting to improve,” said Luke Bond, SmartWay’s program manager.
A case in point: one of the most serious issues in trucking is what’s called “empty kilometres”, or the amount of time trucks are driving the roads without a payload. The trucks will drive out and deliver their goods, but often drive back without a return load.
“That is essentially what the SmartWay program is intended to do, to provide that data to indicate how many empty kilometres they have,” said Bond. “Then you can work on addressing them.”
SmartWay, an arm of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), was created six years ago, following the American version formed in 2004. The organization gathers data and encourages trucking firms to join; it’s free and voluntary.
Now, with more than 3,000 members continent-wide, SmartWay is able to track a variety of statistics and share them with the industry.
There are large benefits not only for the environment, but for the firms themselves. “It will help you benchmark and identify areas to improve, and see how you compare to others in your industry which could give you a competitive edge,” said Bond.
Empty kilometres, Bond added, is the single biggest inefficiency in the system. Industry statistics indicate an average of 32 billion empty kilometres in North America per year. Noting what is going on North America-wide is important, since Canadian and U.S. trucks are constantly crossing the border.
“With the amount of fuel and driver and truck costs without payload being moved — you can appreciate the extent of the inefficiency,” said Bond.
More data, new programs
Recently, SmartWay released a number of stats on the industry. For example, in 2017, 86 per cent of trucks were ‘for hire’ with the remainder being private or dedicated. A private fleet belongs to a company moving its own goods, Bond explained. A dedicated fleet serves one customer or a specific run.
“The vast majority are for hire. It’s the nature of the industry,” said Bond. “There are few operations sending the same amount of goods every week. For the evolving market, you need some flexibility. If one week you need 10 trucks and the next you need one, it’s not very efficient to have them sitting idle.”
It’s not surprising, then, that for-hire fleets are somewhat more efficient than private fleets. SmartWay and its members are looking at ways to increase that efficiency, such as through new technologies that bring shippers and transporters together. For example, a trucking firm may put out a notice that it will have payload space, and connect with a shipper who needs that service on that route.
“There has to be a better way. There are people who need to move goods and trucks out there; we just need to bring them together,” Bond said.
Considering the environment
It’s not just connection technology that’s improving Canada’s transportation fleet. “There are a lot of aerodynamic technologies, side skirts, new sophisticated trucks to reduce fuel use. A lot of companies are trying to switch the ‘modes’ they are using, such as trains or ships,” said Bond.
SmartWay has also launched a new Green Freight Assessment Program (GFAP) specifically geared to helping fleets identify and improve efficiencies.
“You can have an assessment done on your fleet. GFAP goes the extra mile and breaks down the stats on every truck you have — age of truck, fuel efficiency, payload and so on,” said Bond. The information allows firms to determine the impact of upgrading their fleets, in terms of cost and return on investment.
“These companies want to do something, but how do you know where to spend the money and the ROI?” asked Bond. “It’s just new this year, and we’re going to be doing our first round of assessments.”
All of this has been made possible by SmartWay gathering information. As Bond says, data is king.
