February 9, 2010
Frozen Food Express Industries reduced the maximum speed of its company-operated truck fleet from 65 to 62 miles per hour.
The temperature-controlled truckload and LTL carrier said Thursday the change would apply to all 1,485 of its company-owned trucks. FFEX is also encouraging the approximately 544 owner-operators who provide it with trucks to take similar steps.
The move is part of a long-planned cost saving effort, said Russell Stubbs, senior vice president and chief operating officer.
"Independent studies have found that for each mile-per-hour that a truck reduces its average speed, we can expect a 1/10th of a mile increase in that truck's average miles-per-gallon. This three mile-per-hour decrease in maximum speed can save up to 1,000 gallons of fuel, per truck, per year." That works out to approximately 1.48 million gallons of fuel for the company-owned fleet and more if the owner-operators cooperate.
Stubbs said the change will also aid company efforts to reduce emissions as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership.
Customer service will not be impacted by this speed reduction, said Stubbs. "These are difficult operating times, and carriers and shippers alike have to be adaptable to change in this type of environment. As a transportation community, it is absolutely essential that we continue to explore new ideas and work together in collaborative efforts to find creative solutions. I appreciate all the people at our companies, as well as our customers, for the way they are embracing these new concepts," he said.
Print