Incremental improvements and a pragmatic approach are helping drive Bison Transport along its sustainability pathway. The Winnipeg-based carrier is focused on efficiency that generates profit while also helping the environment.
Mike Gomes, vice-president of maintenance, said that the company has been traversing this path for a while. The carrier utilizes tried and tested technology in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
“Rather than trying to force something, like putting a square peg in a round hole, you get a big enough hammer, it will go in, but will create some damage,” he said.
The carrier is committed to testing new technology. Bison is part of the AZETEC (Alberta Zero Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration) project. It is using a long-range heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell truck to haul LCVs between Edmonton and Calgary for 18 months.
Back in 2014, it conducted a large liquified natural gas test. Gomes admitted Bison was ahead of the times and faced fuel supply issues. It boils down to costs and, even with present-day rebates, they do not add up, he observed.
Battery-electric truck tests
Bison also tested two battery-electric trucks – a Freightliner Cascadia and a Nikola. They both performed well, and driver feedback was solid. Infrastructure issues continue to be a challenge. Gomes said that trucks have to be rotated to land on the charger. Then customer needs must be matched. This requires a lot of resources.
Public infrastructure is slowly being built up and there are no guarantees that chargers may be working or not occupied when a truck rolls in.
Gomes noted that if Bison built up its own infrastructure, it would be tied to the geographic location. “Business needs change, customers move,” he said, adding that it affected agility and flexibility in operations.
Bison also tested hybrid technology—a hydrogen and diesel dual-fuel truck. The hydrogen tanks add weight and cost, and they are not a zero-emission technology.
At present, the carrier has not invested in these technologies but is open to them in the future.
Gomes noted that Bison was one of the first carriers in the country to use trailer tails. “They were fantastic, they worked cutting fuel costs,” he said.
But there were operating challenges, especially in deploying them. A manual sensor would recognize trailer speed and release the tails. These sometimes did not work.
Trailer tails and top kits
When used in a long vehicle combination, sometimes tails in the first trailer would be deployed, crunching them against the following trailer. Bison installed lanyards that would keep the tails closed.
“Being on the leading edge, we have to be careful we don’t slip, fall and hurt ourselves,” Gomes said with a smile.
The overall costs outweighed the benefits, and the supplier stopped producing them. The carrier continues to maintain tails that are still present on trailers.
It then transitioned to top kits and side fairings on trailers aimed at improving fuel economy.
Driver coaching
The driver is a key component in Bison’s sustainability push, Gomes stressed. The company coaches and trains them to use technology to improve vehicle performance. Staying in top gear, using cruise control and avoiding hard acceleration, for example, are part of the conversation.
Bison Transport is No. 4 in trucknews.com’s latest Top 100 list, with 2,465 tractors and 10565 trailers. Every drop of diesel saved translates to bigger savings and emissions reduction.
Lithium batteries in APUs
Keeping drivers comfortable is also important. The carrier uses battery-powered auxiliary power units, keeping idling down to a minimum. It is now testing lithium batteries in some vehicles. These provide weight savings, boosting fuel efficiency.
The lithium batteries have a much longer life than that of trucks in the fleet. Bison is working on training coaching maintenance staff on how to maximize that efficiency by giving those batteries a second life on the next vehicle.
When carrying out preventive maintenance (PM), Gomes said that the challenge lies in not doing it too soon and not letting it go over. Due to the large number of units in the fleet, the goal is to maximize PM intervals while optimizing performance. Overservicing a vehicle creates unnecessary waste.
And properly inflated tires help squeeze out every ounce of fuel efficiency. Bison uses an automated tire inflation system on all its trailers. It has also installed Halo units on its tractors to pump air into tires. After an internal study, Gomes said that Bison observed around 2% savings on fuel and 3% savings on tires.
Oil and battery recycling
The carrier does not allow its fleet to get too old, so that it can maximize the newest available technology.
The carrier runs oil and battery recycling programs in its facilities. It also leverages recapped tires. Drive tires are recapped once, and not more than three times for trailer tires. They are also moved from position to position toward the back of the vehicle. Technicians match good used tires so that they are not recapped too soon and extend their life.
Bison Transport is taking small steps to move ahead its sustainability path, utilizing available technology. Gomes said, “We don’t need to go to the most expensive, exotic technology.”
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