By working with stakeholders, the N.C. Department of Transportation has developed plans and strategies to reduce transportation emissions. These include the Zero Emission Vehicle Plan, Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty ZEV Memorandum of Understanding, and the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction Study.

As a part of the development process, five work groups were created to gather stakeholder input. These work groups can be found here and include

• ZEV Plan for Light-Duty Vehicles
• ZEV Plan for Medium & Heavy-Duty Vehicles
• Fleet Transition Plan for Public & Private Vehicle Fleets
• VMT Reduction Plan
• Clean Transportation Infrastructure 

Happy Earth Day 2022! Here at the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition, we value the importance of Earth Day and what it means to participate in protecting and appreciating our Earth. Recently, the CCFC published resources for fleets to look towards when trying to conserve fuel as a way to save money and cut back on petroleum dependence. We encourage fleets to check out these resources this Earth Day to see how your fleet can make an impact. 

Check out that page here. Which includes fuel conservation tips like;

• Encouraging drivers to do their best to cut idle time
• Planning routes and selecting refuel stops in advance
• Keeping each vehicle up to date with tuneups and overall maintance 

With fuel costs and inflation keeping prices high, CCFC staff have compiled a list of fleet resources on fleet fuel  conservation.

Idle Reduction

As a basic rule of thumb, turn off your engine whenever possible. Idling uses a considerable amount of fuel,; an average medium, heavy-duty truck consumes approximately 0.84 gallons per hour while idling. However, some vehicles require idle time while operating. So, in these scenarios, there are technologies available that can help reduce fuel consumption during the idle period. Listed on this resource are various technology options for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles. The table at that link also lists the percent emission reduction associated with the technology as recognized by the EPA. 

Additionally, Argonne National Laboratory’s idle reduction worksheet can help guide the process of calculating savings when considering the switch to an idle reduction technology.  

Conserving Fuel

Though it might seem obvious, it is important to remind fleet drivers of the basic tips & tricks to conserve fuel. Remind drivers to slow down and drive consistently,  as speeding increases fuel consumption and decreases fuel economy. When planning routes or deliveries, combine trips and reduce vehicle load whenever possible. By avoiding unnecessary stops and reducing your vehicle load, you can maximize the vehicle fuel consumption. 

Keeping your vehicle in shape-such as by correcting tuning issues- can improve gas mileage by an average of 4%. Additionally, keeping tires inflated to the proper pressure can improve gas mileage from anywhere between 0.6% and 3%.

General easy to follow tips may include: accelerating gently, coasting to decelerate, use air conditioning sparingly, and attempt to plan routes ahead including fuel stops to avoid unnecessary stopping. 

The US Department of Energy released their latest case study on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition was a featured participant. Our workshop series from 2017, Roadmap from 2018 and next steps are all included in the article you can read here.