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FleetSmart Profiles: Highway Trucking

Terra Nova Transport – Petitcodiac, New Brunswick

Terra Nova Transport is a Less-Than-Truckload carrier operating out of Petitcodiac, New Brunswick. It began in 1983 and currently operates a fleet of 19 tractor-trailers and two straight trucks. Originally a livestock hauler, Terra Nova Transport became a dry-vans-only operation in 1995.

With a terminal in Brampton, Ontario, the company operates mainly in a triangular service area, from the Maritimes to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, to Ontario and back into the Maritimes. It also does runs to California, Florida and Texas in the U.S.

With the rapidly rising diesel fuel prices experienced in the late 1990s, the company needed to improve its fuel economy. Two major steps were taken. First, the company started keeping records of fuel economy by vehicle. Secondly, using the SmartDriver program information from FleetSmart, it initiated a fuel economy incentive program. With these initiatives, the company has substantially improved its fuel economy.

The fuel economy program

While specific numbers for 1999 are not available, Darlene Corey, who administers the program for Terra Nova Transport, estimates that fuel economy has improved by at least 15 percent since the program was introduced. Fleet fuel economy was 39.2 litres per 100 kilometres (7.2 mpg) in 2000. It has improved even further in 2001 to 38.2 litres per 100 kilometres (7.4 mpg).

"We also track fuel prices and let the drivers know where they can get the best price for their fuel. Before, drivers filled up at any station that we have an account with. Now they get their fuel where they can get the best price. This has reduced our fuel costs by about 2.2 cents per litre."

Administrative costs for the incentive program are low. Ms. Corey uses a spreadsheet to track the distance driven by a unit and the amount and cost of the fuel purchased. Data are entered from the driver's trip reports. Data entry is usually done every day to keep records current. In total, this takes about two hours per week. Completing the fuel economy summary data, which is done every three months, takes about one day.

The fuel economy incentive program was initiated in January 2000. Although some drivers responded immediately, about half of the drivers responded after the first year of the program. This response is consistent with typical incentive programs.

Keeping drivers informed

One of the keys to the success of the program has been keeping drivers well informed so they know exactly what their fuel economy performance has been and, therefore, what they need to do to reach the incentive target. Drivers are provided with a copy of their fuel economy results each month, the fleet average fuel economy and the results for each of the other drivers. A congratulatory note is sent to each winner. The company's monthly newsletter also has reminders about the program.

The incentives

To date, the company has used a different incentive for each quarter to help stimulate interest in the program. These incentives are described in Table 1.

Table 1: Incentives
Time Frame	Incentive target	Payment	Number of drivers receiving rewards
January – March 2000	Post the best fuel economy	1st place – $200 2nd place – $100	2 (maximum number of drivers who could win)
April – June 2000	Lowest cost per mile* Achieve over 35.3 L / 100 km (8.0 mpg)	1st place – $500 2nd place – $300 $100	2 drivers No winners
July – September 2000	Beat the boss on average cost per mile Increase previous 3-month-average fuel economy - 2.00 to 3.99% - 4.00 to 5.99% - 6.00 to 7.99% - 8.00 to 9.99% - 10.00% and up	$200 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500	Six of eleven drivers received bonus
October – December 2000	Beat the boss on cost per mile Be within 0.5 mpg of the boss and 0.03 cents per litre of the boss's fuel cost	$200 $300	Two drivers received bonus
January – March 2001	Match or exceed your 3-month-average fuel economy based on January, February and March 2000	0.00 to 0.24 mpg – $100 0.25 to 0.49 mpg – $200 0.50 or over mpg – $300	Six of the twelve eligible drivers received the award
April – June 2001	Match or exceed the fleet average for April, May and June of 2000	0.00 to 0.24 mpg – $100 0.25 to 0.49 mpg – $200 0.50 or over mpg – $400	Eight of the 15 eligible drivers received the award
July – September 2001	Match or exceed your personal 3-month-average fuel economy based on July, August and September 2000	0.00 to 0.24 mpg – $100 0.25 to 0.49 mpg – $200 0.50 or over mpg – $400	Ten of the fifteen eligible drivers received the award

* Lowest cost per mile is a combination of fuel economy and price paid at the pump.

Table 2: Fuel Economy
Time Frame	Fuel Economy
	2000		2001		Percent improvement in fuel economy over previous year
	L/100km	mpg	L/100km	mpg	Percent improvement in fuel economy over previous year
January – March	42.7	6.62	41.4	6.83	+3.1%
April – June	38.2	7.39	37.2	37.20	+2.7%
July – September	36.7	7.70	36.1	7.82	+1.7%
October – December	40.1	7.05	N/A	N/A
Average for year	39.4	7.18	N/A	N/A

The bottom line

"We have certainly improved our fuel economy by at least one mile per gallon," notes Ms. Corey. "Given the size of our operations, this means a saving of 180 000 litres of fuel per year, or nearly $100,000."

Greenhouse gas emissions reductions would be 470 tonnes per year.

For more information on fleet energy-saving opportunities, write to:

FleetSmart
Office of Energy Efficiency
Natural Resources Canada
580 Booth Street, 18th Floor
Ottawa ON K1A 0E4
Fax: (613) 952-8169
E-mail