Why U.S. Xpress is Getting Help With Fuel Economy Testing
U.S. Xpress is one fleet using the Pit Group’s fuel economy testing services. Photo: Jack Roberts
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“Spec’ing a truck today is a science,” Dwayne Haug says bluntly. “If you just go to a dealer and pick one off the lot, you’re doing it wrong.”
Haug ought to know what he’s talking about. He’s a Technology & Maintenance Council Silver Spark Plug honoree who started at a small, Midwestern fleet in 1972 and eventually spent 26 years at Werner Enterprises. Today, Haug is a private fleet consultant who is helping The Pit Group, a Canadian-based engineering and consulting firm, make its first inroads in the U.S. Pit is working with American fleets to test and verify emerging powertrain, fuel efficiency and safety technology, as well as trucking-specific best practices both in the shop and in the cab.
“We’re on the cusp of a whole new era in trucking,” Haug explains. “Everything is changing. And nothing can be taken for granted. Fleets need good, hard data verifying that new technologies or procedures are going to benefit their bottom line. And the Pit Group are specialists when it comes to helping its fleet members identify ways to run better and boost their bottom line.”
“Fleets need good, hard data verifying that new technologies or procedures are going to benefit their bottom line”
“You have to remember that fuel is $4 a gallon in Canada today,” explains Yves Provencher, director of the Pit Group. “Many U.S. fleets became very technology focused a decade ago when prices shot up suddenly.”
Provencher says that, to a degree, that interest faded over the past few years as fuel prices fell to more manageable price points. “But in Canada, $4 is our everyday reality,” he notes, explaining that Pit goes back to 1975. “In 2008 the Canadian trucking industry asked …Read the rest of this story
