Freight Ton Efficiency: A Better Energy-Use Measure?
While fuel economy and miles per gallon are the staple terminology used in the transportation industry, Shell believes another term – that takes the measure a step further – should be adopted industry-wide.
Freight ton efficiency – or FTE for short – is an indication of how effectively energy is being used to transport cargo from A to B.
It’s calculated by multiplying the mass of goods being moved [in US tons] by the truck’s fuel economy [in US mpg] to create a ton-miles per gallon metric. The higher the FTE measurement, the better.
Because carbon dioxide emissions are directly related to the mass of fuel consumed, FTE also offers a crucial window on the CO2-intensity of a driver’s work. High FTE values indicate a low CO2 intensity.
Trucks exist to transport goods. Let’s consider two trucks with fuel economies of 10, and 7 mpg. One appears to be more fuel-efficient than the other. But if the 10 mpg truck was carrying 1 ton of goods, and the 7 mpg truck had a cargo of 20 tons, the picture changes completely.
Figure 3, Why freight ton matters from Why Embrace Freight Ton Efficiency? White Paper, March 2020
As the mass of cargo increases, a truck’s fuel economy – expressed in mpg – reduces. But its FTE and carbon intensity will both improve.
It follows that, from an overall energy efficiency perspective, it’s always better to maximize loading, and minimize the number of trucks used. FTE as the central metric for fleet operation drives this operational strategy.
Freight ton efficiency is an essential freight transport metric because it stimulates the load-maximising behaviours required to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions
Even if saving money on fuel isn’t a top priority, the direct link between fuel consumption and CO2 emissions means manufacturers and end-users alike are increasingly taking advantage of the fuel-economy benefits delivered by low friction, fuel efficient, engine oils – a trend Shell expects to keep growing.
Drawing together all of the emerging energy-focused vehicle, engine, transmission and lubricant developments – and combining them with the high-loaded and conscientious driving style motivated by freight ton efficiency will lead to dramatic improvements in energy and CO2 intensity.
Version 1.0 of Shell’s Starship truck, launched in 2018, achieved 178 ton-miles per gallon – a spectacular 2.48 times improvement oil over the current US average value… What will version 2.0 achieve?
Related video
Innovation in Shell by Bob Mainwaring
Freight Ton Efficiency - Video Transcript
Duration: 02:57
Description: Video about what is freight ton efficiency and why it should be used, featuring Bob Mainwaring.
[Background music plays]
Bright, uplifting music.
[Text displays]
“WHAT IS FREIGHT
TON EFFICIENCY
AND WHY SHOULD IT BE USED?”
[Bob Mainwaring]
Bob Mainwaring is standing, filmed from the waist up in front of a Barcelona photo background featuring La Sagrada Familia. He is wearing a blue button down shirt with the Shell ROTELLA and STARSHIP logos.
[Title]
ROBERT MAINWARING
TECHNOLOGY MANAGER FOR INNOVATION
SHELL LUBRICANTS
[Bob Mainwaring]
I had a heavy involvement in the development, design and construction of...
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
...Starship version 1.0, especially with the metrics that we use to assess its performance.
[Video footage]
Drive by shot of a Starship truck. Aerial shot of Starship truck driving on a highway in the desert with green light streaks going around the truck.
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
One of those metrics was called freight ton efficiency. The efficiency with which we're transporting goods from point A to point B.
[Animation sequence]
“FREIGHT TON EFFICIENCY”
Copy above a United States of America outline with a Starship truck driving from west to east from point A to point B.
“DISTANCE TRAVELED (MILES) / FUEL CONSUMED (U.S. GALLONS) X WEIGHT OF CARGO (TONS)”
Copy below the United States of America outline.
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
The most common measure of fuel efficiency is miles per gallon, or its European equivalent of liters per hundred kilometers.
[Text displays]
“MILES PER GALLON (MPG) OR LITERS PER 100 KILOMETERS (L/100 KM)”
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
If we improve the engine efficiency, then we'll get an improved value of miles per gallon.
Increasing the weight of cargo will increase the amount of energy that's required to accelerate the truck, and to overcome the rolling resistance between the tires and the ground.
[Video footage]
Detail shot of a big engine in operation. Shots of cargo being loaded by forklift into the truck. View of road from window of a truck. Shot of man in the cab of the truck driving. View of highway from inside the truck. Front of truck and tires driving down the road.
[Bob Mainwaring]
If we take this literally, then we'll end up reducing the amount of cargo being carried...
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
...and end up running a truck completely empty in order to achieve the very best number of miles per gallon. That's completely the opposite of what we really want to achieve.
[Video footage]
Low angle view of a truck driving by. Close up of hands turning a steering wheel. Slow motion shot of truck drawing on first road.
[Bob Mainwaring]
That's where freight ton efficiency comes in.
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
If we multiply the tons of goods being carried by the miles per gallon achieved, then that combined metric will increase if we increase the amount of load that the truck's carrying, and if we improve the miles per gallon that the engine and the driveline are capable of achieving.
[Animation sequence]
“WEIGHT OF CARGO x MPG WILL INCREASE WITH:”
Copy below a one ton weight and fuel gauge icon sliding down from the top of the screen.
“-HIGHER TRUCK LOAD”
“-IMPROVED MPG OF ENGINE AND DRIVELINE”
Copy fades on to the right half of the screen.
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
Doing that encourages a run slow, run heavy ethos, in which running the truck slowly, raising the weight of cargo will improve the overall efficiency of transporting goods.
[Animation sequence]
“RUN SLOW, RUN HEAVY”
Copy above an arrow pointing down and labeled with “CO2” copy, to show “low emissions”.
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
A typical U.S. truck operates at about 50 percent cargo load and generally achieves about six and a half miles per U.S. gallon.
[Video footage]
Wide shot of two blue trucks driving down the highway. Close up of the front of the truck while driving. Close up shot of man driving the truck, looking out towards the road.
[Text displays]
“50% CARGO LOAD
FUEL ECONOMY = 6.4 MPG”
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
With Starship version one, we managed to load the truck completely and still achieve a fuel economy of about nine miles per gallon.
[Video footage]
Wide shot of Starship truck backing up to loading dock. Aerial view of Starship truck driving down highway with solar panel farm off in the distance. Starship truck driving on a smaller road while screen fading to the color red.
[Text displays]
“100% CARGO LOAD
FUEL ECONOMY = 8.94 MPG”
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
A 2.48 times improvement in freight ton efficiency with a value of 178 ton miles per gallon achieved.
[Text displays]
“2.48X IMPROVEMENT IN FREIGHT TON EFFICIENCY
WITH 178 TON MILES PER GALLON”
[Bob Mainwaring]
As we now turn our attention to Starship version two, we seek to push that freight ton efficiency as high as we possibly can.
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
If the whole American fleet of 2 million trucks were to take advantage of what we've discovered with Starship, then we could carry the same total amount of goods with just 1.1 million vehicles.
[Video footage]
Wide shot of Starship truck in maintenance shop. Wide shot of a mechanic working on the Starship truck. Two mechanics talking to one another. Close up shot of Starship truck driving down highway with green light streaks going around the front of the truck.
[Text displays]
“2 MILLION TRUCKS
COULD BE REDUCED TO
1.1 MILLION”
[Bob Mainwaring voiceover]
And if those 1.1 million vehicles were operating at the efficiency of the Starship at 8.94 miles per gallon, then the total CO2 emission from the American fleet would be reduced by 60 percent.
[Video footage]
Aerial view of a Starship truck driving in the desert with green streaks of light flowing around the truck. Close up of the front of a Starship truck while a car passes on a highway. Wide shot of a truck driving down a dirt road while the sun sets behind it.
[Text displays]
“TOTAL CO2 EMISSIONS
REDUCED BY 60%’”
[Bob Mainwaring]
That really does highlight the value of using freight ton efficiency as a lever for driving both environmental and economic change.
[Animated sequence]
“SHELL
LUBRICANT SOLUTIONS”
Copy next to Shell pecten on a white background.
[Shell music fades out]
[Animated sequence]
“SHELL.US/FLEETADVANTAGE”
Copy below Shell pecten on a white background.
[Shell mnemonic]
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