Sustainable Timber Transport—Economic Aspects of Aerodynamic Reconfiguration

Abstract

There is a need to reduce fuel consumption, and thereby reduce CO 2-emissions in all parts of the transport sector. It is also well known that aerodynamic resistance affects the fuel consumption in a major way. By improving the aerodynamics of the vehicles, the fuel consumption will also decrease. A special type of transportation is that of timber, which is performed by specialized trucks with few alternative uses. This paper follows up on earlier papers concerning Swedish timber trucks where aerodynamic improvements for timber trucks were tested. By mapping the entire fleet of timber trucks in Sweden and investigating reduced fuel consumption of 2-10%, financial calculations were performed on how these improvements would affect the transport costs. Certain parameters are investigated, such as investment cost, extra changeover time and weight of installments. By combining these results with the mapping of the fleet, it can be seen under which circumstances these improvements would be sustainable. The results show that it is possible through aerodynamics to lower the transportation costs and make an investment plausible, with changeover time being the most important parameter. They also show that certain criteria for a reduced transportation cost already exist within the vehicle fleet today.

Environmental alignment between logistics service providers and shippers – a supply chain perspective

“…Research in green logistics has identified several ways for companies to reduce the environmental impact of transport and logistics activities. These include modal shift and intermodal solutions (McKinnon, 2018;Woodburn and Whiteing, 2010), effective adoption of advanced technology solutions (Johannes et al, 2018;Wang et al 2015;McKinnon, 2010), use of tools for assessing the carbon footprint of activities (Kang et al, 2013;Eglese and Black, 2010;Lieb and Lieb, 2010;Piecyk, 2010), environmentallyoriented transport management (Bajec et al 2015;Lieb and Lieb, 2010), and green logistics system design (Colicchia et al, 2013;Harris et al, 2010;Kohn and Huge-Brodin, 2008;Aronsson and Huge-Brodin, 2006). However, it appears that the actual adoption of these practices is taking place at a relatively slow pace (see, for example: Evangelista et al, 2017;Perotti et al, 2012) Logistics systems include a variety of actors, each of which has its own strategic goals and priorities.…”

Assessment of the Relevance of Use in the Construction of a Forest Tractor With a Semi-Trailer of a Recuperative Pneumatic Hydraulic Saddle Device

“…Eric Johannes и др. [5] в своей работе исследуют влияние аэродинамических устройств, устанавливаемых на лесовозные тягачи с полуприцепами на изменение расхода топлива в процессе вывозки лесоматериалов по лесовозным дорогам Швеции. Выявлено, что изменение аэродинамического сопротивления на этапе проектирования и производства лесовозных тягачей с полуприцепами позволит значительно снизить транспортные расходы на вывозку лесоматериалов, сократить вредные выбросы, и, соответственно повысить экологичность лесовозных автопоездов.…”

Important Factors for Accurate Scale-Resolving Simulations of Automotive Aerodynamics

“…The drag from the base is a significant part of the drag from timber trucks, especially when unloaded. In Sweden, around 2000 timber trucks exist, which have more than 30 % higher fuel consumption than tractor-trailer combinations [90]. No encouraging improvement of the fuel consumption has been seen during the last 20 years, and one of the main reasons behind it can be the lack of improvement of the aerodynamic drag.…”