Real-Time Fuel Efficiency | Run On Less Pt. 1

In their first large-scale national event, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and the Carbon War Room launched Run on Less – a live event that puts fuel efficiency technology to the test in real world conditions with near-real time tracking of truck performance, while highlighting stories from the road.

“The idea of Run on Less came out of the recognition that there’s thousands of fleets, hundreds of manufacturers, and change is hard.” Says Mike Roeth, Executive Director of NACFE. Both NACFE and the Carbon War room decided to take their data and information beyond track testing and calculations and into the real world. By creating a national campaign event that provides real-time data for trucks hauling actual freight, on actual lanes, Run on Less is making a statement to the industry: change is real.

Making Change Real

The idea behind the program began over eight years ago when NACFE and the Carbon War Room partnered together to pursue their shared vision of a more efficient supply chain. For the last three years, they have delivered over fifteen confidence   on over 85 different trucking technologies, given dozens of presentations, and met with over 700 fleets nationwide to deliver their message and information. According to Roeth, it occurred to both organizations that there could be a better way to deliver their message.

They asked themselves, “Are we sure we’re making a difference (with our confidence reports)? And when we really looked hard in the mirror it was like, maybe not,” says Roeth. This realization prompted both organizations to think bigger—how can this information reach real people in a very real way.

“It’s real, it’s not contrived, it’s not calculated.”

With a new scope to their vision of a more fuel-efficient movement of goods, Run on Less began. Today, Run on Less is tracking the daily operations of seven class 8 trucks from different fleets—each equipped with combinations of the industry’s most promising and effective efficiency technologies. They are hauling real freight, connecting virtually with real-time updates, traveling 48,000-50,000 miles over two and a half weeks.

Why? To bust the myth that fuel efficiencies over 10 mpg cannot be achieved in common practice, and then to explain how it can be accomplished.

“The biggest thing I’m excited about is that the data is coming from operations that happen millions of times out there,” Roeth says. “It’s real, it’s not contrived, it’s not calculated.”

Meet the Hosts

NACFE is an organization dedicated to doubling the efficiency of North American goods movement.  By improving information quality and highlighting successful technology adoption, NACFE aims to demonstrate how increased efficiency is possible in today’s market with currently available technology.  The Carbon War Room, founded in 2009 by Sir Richard Branson, is a global nonprofit whose purpose is to accelerate the adoption of business solutions that reduce carbon emissions.

Together, these organizations created truckingefficiency.org, a platform to eliminate barriers to information, demand, and supply of efficiency technologies and practices. Run on less is the manifestation of these efforts in a focused and direct approach to driving more actionable results on a large scale in the transportation industry.

Follow the Results

Run on Less is active between September 6th – September 24th where the seven trucks will converge at the North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) inaugural show in Atlanta. You can follow the results live on their website www.runonless.com and monitor the conditions and efficiencies of each fleet.

Breakthrough is the expert in managing the energy and information that fuels the movements of goods globally. We support billions of miles of transportation and manage hundreds of millions of gallons of fuel annually, making us the trusted advisor for transportation energy strategies worldwide. Learn more about our Fuel Recovery program to reduce cost, consumption, and emissions in your transportation network.