Peregrine Trucking Co. Case Study Example

Just like any other company, Peregrine Trucking Co. is facing certain challenges such as the cost and usage of fuel by the trucks in the transport section. This issue has been one of the biggest challenges. Heavy commercial vehicles as we know use a lot of fuel but many people never think of coming up with a solution to the problem. Therefore, one has to come up with solutions that  will help the company. That is in the budget set for fuel and maybe allocates it to another field.  These are the most efficient ways that many companies are already using to reduce their fuel cost. Thus, they would be suitable to the company, as they say, it is better to try than not. I have come up several solutions that will gain explanation. They will also tell one what benefits they will bring to the company if applied (Paras, 1976, 45).

The first change we should make is changing the engines. Many heavy commercial vehicles undergo installation with non-regulatory engines that consume a lot fuel for them to run. From my research, I have found that there are more cheap and reliable engines that are more advanced. These engines are pocket friendly and use minimum fuel compared to the ones we are using. Still on the engines, we can also teach the drivers on how to make a progressive shift when they start changing the gears. In this process, we do not need to change the engines from high diesel using to economical engines. All we have to do is to use the minimum engine revs as possible during the gear changing process. When it comes to changing the gears one does not have to change them in a slow motion, fast acceleration reduces fuel consumption in a very high percentage. Driving fast will also help us in fuel consumption since in the process, of driving fast, the vehicle gains aerodynamic force, which helps the car gain resistance against the wind and therefore, less force is  in application for it to move (Fienberg & Kim, 2008, 78).

Then there is the tire. Many people do not know that tires can be a major cause of high fuel consumption.  Tires can affect the car’s fuel usage in many ways examples being, when a tire is not filly inflated it has a high chance of dragging down the car’s mileage. Driving on flat tires will cost the company a very huge amount of money and gallons of oil. Fuel is also affected by the rolling resistance efficiency of the tires. In this case, it means that the amount of horsepower the car has to apply on the tires for them to move on certain speed. The more the power applied to make the car move the more fuel consumption goes up. There are some tires types that help in fuel utilization. This is by reducing the rolling resistance and the force that the engine has to apply. In making the tires roll.  These tires making, is in such a way that, through friction, they do not produce a lot of heat when they move, and they have a low trend depth, which reduces the resistance of movement. In this situation, I suggest that we change all the tires that we bought with the trucks. This is because they do not to reduce fuel consumption (Vidunas & Lester, 1996, 66).

We should also try improving the parking systems. When we park the trucks on direct sunlight, there is a high possibility that they will be consuming a lot of fuel. This is since these engines are not favorable with hot weathers. Therefore, it is advisable that we make some shade for cars for the engines to get used to cold weather. The suggestion that we use shaded parking lots. It is because when the engine comes from cold weather it takes a long time. This is before it warms up. This helps since the faster the engine warms up the faster it will take to use less fuel. Driving frequently for short distances can also help in fuel consumption.  Since the time the car uses to travel for a short distances the locomotive does not get adequate time to warm up and consume a lot of fuel.  In most cases, this is a bad move, but hard breaking will also be so helpful if we need to cut cost on fuel. Since we are dealing with transportation, it would be advisable to limit the amount of goods or people we will have to carry. Exceeding the required capacity would make use have to consume a lot of petroleum to carry the extra goods. Therefore, it is advisable that even if we are not carrying any goods we try to remove all extra weights from the vehicles. That is, for example, spare parts or the tools to assemble the car. In, removing them, the vehicle becomes lighter, and it will not be forced to use a lot of force for it to move (Paras, 1976, 48).

Since most of the cars, work starts from the engine. It would be advisable we be checking the engines health from time to time and also try cleaning the engine. This will boost the performance of the engine unlike leaving it like that. Since diesel emits a lot of gas, it tends to leave its trials hanging in the pipes and the exhaust. This will have a negative effect on the truck since it will interfere with the general flow of events in the emission system of the truck. Energy reduction and usage by the truck will also help on cutting the cost of fuel. In most situations, we find ourselves using some equipment in the trucks that we do not need at the time. Therefore, it would be more preferable to avoid switching power consuming equipments when we are not using. One should avoid switching on the air conditioners and plugging in power consuming equipments. That is, in the truck better yet one should not frequently use them. This cannot be termed as a major fuel consumption process, but when practiced for a long time it would bring many losses to the company more so to the transport sector in particular (Fienberg & Kim, 2008, 84).

The other process will be making a change from using petroleum engines to the use of hydrogen. There are so many advantages of using hydrogen as a source powering the trucks over using common petrol. So far, hydrogen is as one of the longest and best performing fuel in vehicles. The positive part about hydrogen is that it is, renewable, unlike other fuels. The hydrogen that undergoes renewing can also be used, in battery cell, to produce electric energy. By using hydrogen, there will be no more clogging of pipes and engines due to the smoke emitted from burning petrol, and this means that the trucks will be moving in a very smooth manner. Although hydrogen requires electricity for it to be renewed or burnt, it is relevantly cheap, compared to ordinary fuel. From research, it has been found that many companies are turning to hydrogen as their source of fuel since it is economical and also environmental friendly. Thus, since we all care about the environment we will eventually have to use hydrogen now or maybe later when it is too late (Vidunas & Lester, 1996, 70).

When we talk of fuel consumption on cars there, are devices that fit and forget and there are other devices that one must check from time to time to see if they are doing okay. Devices like fuel catalyst is suitable it has only to put on once. Then one is good to go for a very long time with maximum efficiency. Fuel catalyst is a product that is either in fit   the engine or dipped in the fuel tank and is from tin manufacturing. The fuel catalyst is in consideration to be a fuel purifier, which improves the quality and power of the fuel. In this case, when the quality of the fuel it means that we will be able to hoard mammoth amount of money since the engines will not be running on a lot of fuel (Paras, 1976, 50).

This process is in use by many people it that gets the name the downhill momentum. In most situations, one just has to let the car go down the hill without any disturbances. The drivers are told not to be braking on down hill for the care to have enough momentum to be able to climb the next hill. Letting the car move freely does not consume much fuel. This is since the engine is in a hibernating form. This means that there is less fuel burning and consumption. Hence, when we talk about a downhill there must be an up hill, in the case of an uphill, the drivers will use the same speed they started to climb the hill. In this case, when driver changes the speed from high to low, there will be outstanding fuel consumption when the driver tries to get the normal speed he was using back. Therefore, it suitable that, in up hill situations, the driver will have to keep the same speed until the hill comes to an end (Vidunas & Lester, 1996, 84).

The other method is turning the trucks off when necessary, This is in the case of goods uploading  from the trucks it will be advisable if they are turning off for more fuel saving. Thus, in a case traveling it will also be advisable for the drivers to plan their routes before setting out for the journey. Going for a trip without planning may lead one into a congested road or even damaged roads, which will make one to get stuck for a long time, and the time one gets stuck fuel is still in consumption by the truck (Paras, 1976, 57).

Reference

Fienberg, A. & Kim, G. (2008). Minton goes! Driving & trucking.USA: Allen & Unwin.

Paras, S. (1976). Trucking. USA: Los Angeles Regional Transportation Study.

Vidunas, J. & Lester, A. (1996). Exclusive lanes for trucks and cars on interstate highways. USA: Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center