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"This industry is changing," said Weber, the Navistar engineer. "Ten mpg is now feasible." (http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-fi-garage17-2008may17,0,7754080.story)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/International_ProStar_-_7_5_mpg_Class_8_truck.jpgKen Bensinger - LA Times - May 17, 2008

International's® 2008 ProStar -- 7.5 MPG capability and quite possibly the most fuel efficient Class 8 Truck on the road.

The sooner the 10 mpg OTR vehicles arrive, the better. What happens if diesel really becomes scarce in just a few short years however? -- Ed.

Their massive vehicles' low mpg weighs down the bottom line, spurring cultural and technological shifts.

If you think gas is expensive, be thankful you're not a trucker. Filling up their 18-wheel, 80,000-pound leviathans can cost more than $1,300 these days.

Because of short supply, the price of diesel has gone up more than twice as much as gasoline in the last year, reaching a U.S. all-time high this week of an average of $4.33 a gallon. With little hope of a near-term decline -- oil futures rose $2.17 to settle at a record $126.29 a barrel Friday -- the run-up is causing panic and prompting radical cultural and technological shifts in the struggling trucking industry…

The $119,000 Kenworth, marketed as the company's most aerodynamic truck ever, has a streamlined wedge shape and eliminates projections such as the smokestacks. The result, Rethwisch said, is an increase from 4.5 mpg in the Peterbilt to the Kenworth's 6.5 mpg, which saves him upward of $2,000 a month at the pump… http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-fi-garage17-2008may17,0,7754080.story

Good news. There's lots of improvements to be made to the trucking fleet. Instead of running a separate generator burning fuel for the rest stops, why not make a big hybrid system where you could run all the accessories from battery power at the stop and recharge on the road? Or maybe have a plug-in, where the trucker could juice up at truck stops. Somebody must be working on that already.

http://www.hybrid-vehicles.net/orion-vii-hybrid-bus.htm

If hybrid buses are on the road now, why can't they come up with hybrid big-rig trucks?

Hybrid train locomotives exist, too:

http://www.hybrid-vehicles.net/unionpacific-hybridtrains.htm

The fact that electric motors move trains shows that large size should not rule out hybrid big-rig trucks.

Harry

Good news. There's lots of improvements to be made to the trucking fleet. Instead of running a separate generator burning fuel for the rest stops, why not make a big hybrid system where you could run all the accessories from battery power at the stop and recharge on the road? Or maybe have a plug-in, where the trucker could juice up at truck stops. Somebody must be working on that already.


Some of the truck stops currently have plug-in capablility:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/idle_reduction_electrification.html

they also have HVAC hoses that connect via the truck window like drive in theatre speakers.

I for one will be glad for the day when all semi-trucks are electronically limited to 60ish mph. The concept of moving that much mass down the road at high speeds is just scary. No matter how much tire you have, an 80,000lb truck is not terribly controllable in any emergency stop other than a straight line. Besides, what is the 60-0 stopping distance? 250ft? A standard passenger car is under 150ft, which means it gets pushed 100ft by the semi before coming to a stop?? Very scary if you think about it. Semis are absolutely necessary to our economy and I have respect for the people who are willing to drive them, but it is still scary.

10 MPG ? - that is a good start and we should welcome it. But what's a long haul RR by comparision ?

50 MPG ? 120 MPG ?

Long Haul trucking will gradually lose out to railroads - Now that the big RR cos (finally) have laid dual tracks coast to coast and are working hard on regular schedules (ie on-time), they'll erode the long haul trucker's market share.

This will take decades, but it will eventually happen.

That will be good for truckers and their families - Truckers will be the preferred solution for under 250 mile loads. They won't be away from home as much.

Well, it took decades for the oil interests to systematically
trash the railroads' tenure in the first place ... are you really
confident that it will fully reverse? It totally makes sense,
of course, from an efficiency standpoint, but there's more
going on behind it all [corporate greed, as usual]...
.
_H*

I just want to know more abou that "special" route planning software. I'd like to see it adopted at some of the big mapping sites. Imagine entering in your car type & perhaps driving style, and it would calculate not only a quick route, but an efficient one.

Well, it took decades for the oil interests to systematically
trash the railroads' tenure in the first place ... are you really
confident that it will fully reverse? It totally makes sense,
of course, from an efficiency standpoint, but there's more
going on behind it all [corporate greed, as usual]...
.
_H*

Public funds have paid for our road network, while we turned our backs on our railroads. Besides the oil interests, the automakers' lobbyists have helped encourage our spending policies. Our Interstate system is referred to as the Eisenhower system because he saw the Autobahns in Germany and wanted to duplicate them here.

The railroads should carry more freight. I'd like to see widespread rail passenger service come back. Maybe it will, seeing how much trouble our airlines are in, and the hassle involved in flying anywhere.

Harry

"The days of 75 miles per hour on the road are gone," he said.

uh....werent they gone for most of the 70s and 80s too? Oh right, we forgot that prices quadrupled once before in history.....silly americans we are.