TTI unveils truckstop electrification strategy

June 14, 2007
Researchers with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) this week introduced their deployment strategy for a nationwide series of truckstop electrification “corridors” designed to help reduce emissions from idling trucks

Researchers with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) this week introduced their deployment strategy for a nationwide series of truckstop electrification “corridors” designed to help reduce emissions from idling trucks. The plan was the outcome of the first phase of a three-year project for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The project identified 15 major truck corridors along the interstate highway system and prioritized potential locations for the stationary idle-reduction technology commonly referred to as truckstop electrification (TSE). The trucking industry already has some experience with two such TSE solutions – Shurepower (www.shurepower.com) and IdleAire (www.Idleaire.com).

In the case of Shurepower, the HVAC system itself is integral to the truck and is powered by “plugging into” AC electricity made available from a Shurepower stanchion at each parking spot. The IdleAire approach, on the other hand, involves external HVAC equipment installed at each parking spot, which delivers heating, cooling and other services through the driver’s side window via a special insert. Both systems are intended to permit drivers to maintain a comfortable cab and sleeper temperature and also power other “hotel loads” without running the truck’s engine at idle.

The 15 corridors were prioritized according to factors such as length, major activity centers, truck volume, truck growth rates, clean air non-attainment areas, existing TSE sites, number of truckstops, average temperatures and major intersections, according to TTI researcher Joe Zietsman.

The highest priority corridor identified by the study runs from New York to Minneapolis and involves sections of I-80, I-90, and I-94. A corridor from Laredo to Raleigh was ranked second and one from Chicago to Miami was third on the list.

The complete 22-pg report plus a web tool that enables viewers to zoom to a map of a state, corridor or specific zone along a corridor is available at the TTI web site: http://tse.tamu.edu/.

About the Author

Wendy Leavitt

Wendy Leavitt joined Fleet Owner in 1998 after serving as editor-in-chief of Trucking Technology magazine for four years.

She began her career in the trucking industry at Kenworth Truck Company in Kirkland, WA where she spent 16 years—the first five years as safety and compliance manager in the engineering department and more than a decade as the company’s manager of advertising and public relations. She has also worked as a book editor, guided authors through the self-publishing process and operated her own marketing and public relations business.

Wendy has a Masters Degree in English and Art History from Western Washington University, where, as a graduate student, she also taught writing.  

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