Future of Trucking – Fuel Efficiency
Volvo Super Truck
It’s an exciting time in the trucking industry. We’re on the brink of a few technological breakthroughs that could change the entire industry as we know it. One of those breakthroughs is fuel efficiency.
In 2011, Volvo Trucks was given the Super Truck project by the US Department of Energy, with the task of improving freight efficiency by 50%. Volvo not only succeeded, but exceeded by developing a truck with 88% greater freight efficiency. The Volvo Super Truck averages 12+ MPG and is 70% more efficient than the 2009 Volvo VNL 670 baseline model. This program aims to help accelerate the development of advanced efficiency technologies and it’s safe to say that they achieved just that. Volvo has already introduced some of these improvements from the Super Truck into their D11 and D13 engines on 2017 Volvo Trucks.
Volvo Trucks followed up their reveal of the Super Truck with an announcement of a Super Truck 2 program. The goal is to expand on the Super Truck 1 by building a lightweight tractor-trailer that exceeds the freight efficiency goal of 100% improvement compared to the 2009 baseline. The team will also demonstrate a 55% brake thermal efficiency.
It may be awhile before all of these concepts hit the market but the future for fuel efficiency is looking more promising. For more information regarding the Volvo Super Truck visit The Volvo Website.
At TEC Equipment we’re proud to represent the premium brands of Volvo, Mack, Isuzu, Hino, Wabash, GMC, Cottrell, and Capacity who are all on the forefront of innovated technologies and we’re excited at what the future could bring to our industry.