Towards a greener trucking future N

EW ZEALAND’S COMMITMENT TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE gas (GHG) levels by 30% (on 2005 levels) by 2030 poses “a special challenge” for the road transport industry.

Because, with heavy freight haulage reckoned to account for nearly 25% of NZ’s road transport GHG emissions, transport operators have limited options, suggest Teletrac Navman’s Mats Dahlstedt and Michael Barnard.

“The industry has far fewer commercially viable options for non-diesel alternatives than the light vehicle industry, where

EVs and hybrids are becoming commonplace,” says transport solutions specialist Barnard.

“Heavy freight haulage can’t easily be substituted – the power requirement to haul tonnes of goods is enormous and it isn’t as simple as electrifying vehicles. Fossil fuel-powered vehicles are the most flexible mode of transport in our long, narrow, hilly country and the primary mechanism to bring goods to our stores and homes – so a fundamental piece of the economic jigsaw.”

As things stand, according to the Road Transport Forum, the transport industry employs 32,868 Kiwis (2% of the workforce), has a gross annual turnover of $6billion, and transports 93% of the total tonnes of freight moved in NZ.

“Try substituting that!” says Barnard – adding that, in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the industry’s emissions need to decline by around 30% before 2030: “On the current trajectory, the Paris targets will not be met.

“The good news is that there are many ways to reduce emissions and fuel consumption, and they do not all require an expensive revamp of your fleet.

“In fact, reducing carbon emissions can be done with the technology available to us today – it’s a matter of uptake across the industry and the population, not just for the government to undertake new policies. But what can we do?”

Barnard answers his own question, suggesting that Teletrac Navman’s Australian-based Mats Dahlstedt and Temuka truck driver Johnny Baxter have some practical ideas on how operators and drivers can significantly reduce carbon emissions from their trucks.

“You can start today by using simple insights from technology