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Cummins Approves Renewable Diesel for Medium-Duty Engines

Photo: Cummins

Cummins announced that its B4.5, B6.7, and L9 engine platforms are compatible with certain kinds of renewable diesel fuels.

Both on-highway and off-highway versions of the engines and all vintages are approved to use paraffinic renewable diesel fuels meeting the EN 15940 specification. Compared to conventional diesel fuels, paraffinic diesel fuels can potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 90% over the total life of the vehicles, according to Cummins.

Cummins held an 18-month field test of its engines running 100% paraffinic diesel fuels in order to study the effects of the fuel on engine performance, aftertreatment and fuel system durability. Engine performance remained stable and consistent while using the paraffinic fuel, Cummins found. Depending on the application and engine duty cycle, fuel economy could take a hit of up to 6%, mostly due to the lower density of paraffinic fuels compared to regular diesel.

Cummins approval for the use of renewable diesel with B6.7 and L9 engines aligns with the introduction of EN 15940, a final European CEN specification for paraffinic diesel fuels. Paraffinic fuels include hydrotreated vegetable oil, gas-to-liquids, and biomass-to-liquids. Operators of Cummins-powered trucks and buses are required to source all paraffinic fuels from high-purity suppliers meeting EN 15940, as this ensures that the fuel contains the necessary lubricity additive for use in a diesel engine.

The company is currently putting other light-duty, heavy-duty and high-horsepower engine platforms through similar field tests; Cummins will announce the results of the studies later in the year.

"Focused on energy diversity and enabling the power of choice, Cummins has provided another approved fuel option to help the continued reduction of emissions," said Jim Fier, Cummins vice president, engineering. “The use of paraffinic diesel allows customers to minimize their emissions-based footprints without additional capital investment. Plus, they have the comfort of knowing that Cummins ...Read the rest of this story

ATRI Seeks Carrier Input for Operational Costs Survey

The American Transportation Research Institute is seeking carrier input for the annual update to its Operational Costs of Trucking report.

An online questionnaire asks for basic cost information from for-hire motor carriers, such as driver pay, fuel costs, insurance premiums, and lease or purchase payments. Carriers are being asked to provide full-year 2016 cost per mile and/or cost per hour data.

ATRI will collect the data and combine with the previous Operational Costs of Trucking reports to present nine full years from 2008-2016 of trucking cost information derived from fleet operations. The research provides carriers with a high-level benchmarking tool and government agencies with real world data for future infrastructure improvement analyses.

"We rely on ATRI's research to inform so much of our operations, and the Operational Costs of Trucking is no exception," said Dennis Dellinger, president of Claremont, North Carolina-based fleet Cargo Transporters. “The annual report provides a critical benchmark for us to identify where we can improve our operating efficiency across a number of key metrics.”

For-hire carriers are encouraged to participate in the survey by Friday, June 29, 2017. The results of the survey will be available later in the year. Survey respondents will receive an advance copy of the report. The survey is available online at atri-online.org.

Related: The Results of Last Year's Operational Costs Survey

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Building a Landstar logistics center in 52 seconds

In less than a minute, you can watch the new 31,000 sq. ft. Landstar U.S./Mexico Logistics Service Center in Laredo, TX, come to life; a construction project that lasted from May 2016 to February 2017. The facility features a 30-bay cross-dock and custom 120-ton stand-alone bridge crane. Located on a massive 50-acre site, the new expanded logistics center is one of the largest facilities of its kind in Laredo, according to its design-build firm, Haskell. Video courtesy of Work Zone Cam.