Operate Sustainably: Drivewyze PreClear Helps Fleets Reduce Emissions and Support ESG Initiatives

It’s a new year, and things are heating up. The challenge of reducing global warming continues to be an objective for world leaders and it’s filtering down to fleets as they look to the future.

The trucking industry isn’t idle in the conversation when it comes to finding ways to reduce CO². With new regulations on the horizon to reduce carbon emissions, the trucking industry continues to evolve, with an eye toward a more sustainable transportation ecosystem.

For many, Drivewyze included, that means a conscious effort to reduce emissions and make a difference that will benefit us all.

Improving sustainability practices

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for companies aiming to do their part to reduce their carbon footprint. When we think of expanding or improving environmental practices, it’s easy to think of newsworthy items. New equipment, like alternative-fuel or electric trucks, grab most of the headlines, but there are other opportunities that often fly under the radar that can assist in helping businesses operate more sustainably. One of those services is weigh station bypass.

The impact of weigh station bypass

While it was a service created to help fleets, drivers, and owner operators become more profitable by reducing time spent at weigh stations to keep freight moving, a benefit that is often overlooked is its ability to help businesses reduce their fuel bills, and thus emissions. Let’s look at the numbers.

In 2021, Drivewyze PreClear customers received more than 17 million bypasses at Drivewyze-enabled weigh station locations throughout North America. From those bypasses, a Drivewyze sustainability report found that on average, the amount of CO2 a truck saves per weigh station bypass is 0.00408 metric tons. A small figure and hard to quantify as it stands on its own, but when it’s multiplied by the millions of bypasses Drivewyze customers receive each year, there is a significant impact. In 2021, Drivewyze estimates its customers eliminated 69,500 metric tons of CO2 from going into the air thanks to weigh station bypass.

To put that figure into perspective, it’s equivalent to taking more than 15,000 cars off the road for an entire year. Another way to look at it — the CO2 savings are equivalent to the carbon sequestered by more than 85,000 acres of forests in the same time period.

That’s a fact not lost on carriers.  In 2019, Mesilla Valley Transportation, a large carrier with more than 1,600 trucks saved more than 7,500 gallons of fuel and reduced CO2 emissions by 84.9 metric tons in one month with the help of bypassing Drivewyze-enabled weigh station locations. The amount of carbon the company was able to reduce is equivalent to the same amount of what would be emitted from burning a whopping 93,839 pounds of coal. Not only does weigh station bypass help MVT with its environmental goals, but it also makes a significant impact on the operations front. When you factor in the savings from less fuel consumed and time trucks spent at weigh stations, PreClear was able to help MVT save $164,425 in operating costs in only a month.

Of course, when you dive into the stats of large fleets with more than a thousand trucks in operation, the numbers become even more impressive. But that doesn’t mean small fleets can’t see significant fuel, emissions, and operating cost savings. Take Davidson Environmental, for example, an Ontario-based company that operates 12 trucks regionally to transport organic material to be recycled into useable compost.

Davidson Environmental drivers regularly pass six Drivewyze-enabled weigh stations along their routes and receive anywhere from 65-95 granted bypasses each month. During the month of August 2021, Davidson Environmental’s 10 trucks that are enrolled with PreClear were granted 93 bypasses, which saved the company 37 gallons of diesel, according to a monthly company PreClear report by Drivewyze. On top of that, Davidson Environmental drivers saved eight hours in total that otherwise would have been spent idling at weigh stations through PreClear, which helped the company save more than $800 in operations costs.

These are a few examples of how companies, large and small, cut carbon emissions output, while at the same time boosting driver productivity and lowering operational costs. To see how other Drivewyze customers are benefitting from weigh station bypass, check out other Drivewyze testimonials.

The Emergence of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG)

Reducing CO² is one piece of the puzzle, but there is a bigger picture. ‘ESG,’ which stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance, is becoming a common method for companies to evaluate and reinforce sustainable business practices. Essentially, following the principles of ESG is a way for companies to acknowledge social and environmental issues that affect society and, in response, operate in a way that confronts them. The adoption of implementing initiatives that address ESG is growing in all sectors – including the transportation industry – as companies shift gears to prioritize key societal concerns.

Annual reports to publicize company ESG or sustainability initiatives and results are common practice by publicly-traded companies to share information with shareholders, customers, and others affiliated with their business. They provide a synopsis of what the company is doing to operate more sustainably, address social issues, develop their future goals, and explain how they’re ethically- and fiscally-responsible. Here’s an example of JB Hunt’s latest sustainability report for 2020 that includes elements of ESG.

Large corporations may have propelled the emergence of ESG, but a growing number of fleets – small and mid-size – are adopting the principles of ESG to operate more sustainably and better align themselves with new regulations and its current and prospective customers’ sustainability goals. The United States Postal Service, for example, is aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from years 2019 to 2025, and contract carriers that provide services for the postal service, like AJR Trucking, take those goals into consideration for its operation.

Drivewyze as your ESG partner  

From operating more fuel-efficient or alternative fueled trucks to utilizing new technologies, there are several opportunities fleets can take advantage of to operate in a more sustainable way. Whether you’re considering issuing ESG reports, are already, or want to share your sustainability goals with customers, Drivewyze is happy to provide custom CO² and fuel savings reports to support your sustainability initiatives.

To inquire about Drivewyze PreClear reports, the Drivewyze support team can help. What we do now to reduce our carbon footprint will make an impact on future generations and what their world may look like.