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# Appendix E: Fleet SummariesE-2

Appendix E: Fleet Summaries

Summary of Phone Meeting with B & B Trucking, Inc. Phone meeting with Andrew Blackburn, Director of Eq uipment & Property, on 8/13/08.

• General fleet information: o 150-180 tractors coast to coast o 115 trailers (because use trailers from USPS pool s ome of the time) o primarily haul mail for USPS (85-90% of business) o trailer fleet comprised of approx 30% 48' and 70% 5 3' trailers o they generally keep their trailers about 12-13 year s o generally keep tractors about 8-9 years (1.5 millio n miles), then sell them o generally do not operate in CA (purposely stay out of CA) • Aerodynamic equipment: o have been using tank skirts on tractors since 1999 and seen decent results (benefits vary by speed of travel which var ies by state)

 have seen at least a 0.1 mpg savings at 65 mph

 have not had any weather related problems with the tank skirts, even when travel to Seattle o Current Freight Wing equipment on trailers:

 have been using the Freight Wing skirts on trailers for 1.5 years  10 skirts, all on 53' trailers - the original alumi num product

 Price: got grant for original purchases which made them very attractive

 Installation: Freight Wing helped with installatio n & trained their people to install. Once trained, took one pe rson about 2 hours per trailer o New Freight Wing equipment

 just ordered 20 more, some for 48' trailers & some for 53' trailers (10 for new trailers & 10 for retrofits)

 planning to purchase the polymer plastic version (c an go lower to the ground)

 Price: <$1000 per trailer (not including installat ion)

 Plan to install on entire fleet eventually (gradual ly, for cost reasons) • Maintenance & Repair issues: o only one incident of damage due to driver error - d river drove into a snow bank

 damage was easily repaired, everything remained int act & drivable, no road hazard

 ordered replacement panels which arrived in 3 days and easily replaced them in shopE-3 o no reported damage caused by snow - said less snow buildup under the trailer with the skirts than without them • Fuel Economy: o tested two trailers on same route between So. Carol ina and Florida, using same two drivers, over two month period. The n they changed trailers, kept everything else the same, an d compared results o saw improvement in fuel economy - 0.3 mpg savings a t 70 mph speeds o retested at lower speed and saw 0.1-0.14 mpg saving s at 55-60 mph o base tractor fuel economy with single (raised) axle : 8-8.4 mpg, and with two live axles: 7.4-7.7 mpg • Tires: o currently using some SmartWay approved duals & some single wides - not seeing a great difference (using Bridge stone, Michelin & Yokohama) o they are working with Michelin on single-wides Summary of Telephone Meeting with Cascades Transpor t Inc. on 9/9/08 • Company/fleet information o Met with Alain Boutin, Directeur gestion des risqu es et conformite o Cascades is a major producer of paper, specializin g in recycled content products o Fleet travels throughout Canada & into US, primari ly to the Midwest and East (do not come to California directly – use subcontractors) o Fleet consists of 100 tractors & 550 trailers (mos tly 53’ & 48’)  All but 12 of the trailers are dry vans  ~400 are 53’ dry vans  Operate 2-, 3- and 4-axle trailers o Lifespan of tractors & trailers:  Keep tractors about 10-12 years • Long haul tractors travel about 160,000 miles per year • Local haul travel about 124,000 miles per year  Keep trailers about 10-15 years • After about 10 years use them as yard trailers or for short distance (~ 20 mile radius) o Average load weights:  2-axle – 35,000 lbs  3-axle – 70,000 lbs  4-axle – 80,000 lbs o Cascades is SmartWay partner for the last 2-3 yea rs (one of first Canadian companies to join) • Aerodynamic EquipmentE-4 o On Tractors: fuel tank fairings, cab fairing, aer odynamic mirrors, winter heaters o On Trailers: currently using skirts – mostly Tran stex Composite product  Originally tested 6 skirts for about 1 year, inclu ding Freight Wing (aluminum), Transtex skirt & a few months ago also tested a Laydon skirt • Tested with 2 dedicated runs with similar loads; monitored for 4-5 months, with and without skirts • Found Transtex product the best in winter & in cas e of accident (flexibility) & also wanted to support a Canadian company • Recently purchased 250 Transtex skirts, & have already installed 175 of them • Using skirts on 53’ and 48’ trailers; will be putt ing some on spread axle trailers and testing their effectiveness this fall o Other devices have tried/tested in the past:  Strakes on side of trailer – did not find fuel eco nomy improvement (in fact, saw a 1% increase in fuel con sumption with them)  Boat tail in back, by Transtex – tried them a coup le of years ago – worked well but did not expand use  Bubble on trailer back – tried them about 7-10 yea rs ago when fuel economy was not so significant a factor o Why have they been testing & using aerodynamic dev ices for as long as they have?  Fuel economy  Cascades is an environmental company (make 100% recycled content paper products & have been making them for some time) – all divisions are required to cons erve energy • Fuel Economy o Initially tested 5 skirts (Freight Wing & Transtex ) on 2 dedicated runs with similar loads  Monitored for 4-5 months, with and without skirts (in fall, winter & spring)  Saw 5.8% fuel savings (regardless of brand) o Average fuel economy= 7.9 mpg (American) • Driver reactions/comments: o Skirts result in less spray being created along th e side of the trailer, which improves visibility in wet weather o Safety/stability • Installation o Initially took 3 people an entire day to install o Now takes 4 people 2 1⁄2 hours (32 hours for 4 trail ers)E-5

• Cost o Approximate cost $1500-$2000 (Canadian) for variou s skirts (would not state how much they paid for current skirts) o ROI: estimate about 1 1⁄2 years because of 5:1 trai ler:tractor ratio • Maintenance/Damage o No damage to any of them at all (aluminum or compo site) o No maintenance so far o Problems with steep loading docks and skirts?  Avoid using skirts where the incline is too steep – don’t send them to those locations, or unload some other way  Found Transtex skirts the most pliable because the y don’t break easily & they rebound back into place after b eing bent • Tires o Have been using low profile tires for many years o Do not use SmartWay approved tires because need mo re traction for winter road conditions o Also have 15 units with super singles  Believe they provide better fuel economy, but need special permit to use them in Quebec & the cost of the perm it negates the savings due to fuel savings (reason why Quebec charges for the permit is because of additio nal road damage) • Other fuel savings activities/devices: o Electronic speed control  Set pedal maximum speed at 108 km/hr  Set cruise control maximum speed at 105 km/hr  Control pedal use to less than 10% of the time o Battery operated refrigeration system (tried Webas to, then Red Tech) o Prevent idling (trucks shut down after 3 minutes o f idling) Summary of Telephone Meeting with Falcon Transport Summary of phone meeting on 8/12/08 with Falcon Tra nsport to discuss their experience with Freight Wing equipment. In attenda nce were Mark Guthrie (Director of Operations) and Jason Meyers (Fuel Ana lyst).

• Company/fleet details: o Headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio - operate primari ly from Texas to the east coast o Fleet comprised of about 2600 trailers, and 1050 tr actors (700 that they own plus 350 owner/operators)

 almost all trailers are 53' box type, and no refers (only pull refers for Walmart on holidays) o Drivers include large proportion of trainees each y ear (train about 600/yr), who are hard on equipmentE-6 o company currently spends $60 million per year on di esel fuel (purchase ~ 1.8 million gallons/month) o company recently applied to be SmartWay Partner • Falcon purchased 6 Freight Wing belly fairings in t he Spring of 2006; 5 are still in use, and one is not because it was install ed on a trailer that was retired. o no damage reported to any of the fairings over the two years, even with trainees o no maintenance issues - felt that drivers were more conscious of them and therefore more careful o tracked fuel savings during first 6 months of use ( run 24/7): about 0.6 mpg improvement, or 10% o stopped tracking fuel costs when cost of fuel went down; now tracking again o other benefits of fairings:

 tires wore less

 tracking was more true

 easier to handle on a windy day than without fairin gs  helped reduce overspray of tires during rain • How use the fairings? o on long haul runs - avoid short term shuttles o speed set at 65 mph (feel no benefit until exceed 5 5 mph) • Future use of fairings: o currently looking at a new technology manufactured by a CA company (Silver Eagle Mfg) out of San Jose. Contac t person is Gary Gaussoin (503) 335-2114 (company actually loca ted in Portland Oregon)

 interested in their wakeboard on tail of trailer & skirts

 using their wings now & seen a 15-20% improvement o ver the past month

 haven't yet tested the wakeboard o probably will put Silver Eagle equipment on all lon g haul fleet • Tires: o not in favor of super singles because:

 cost (outweighs fuel savings)

 breakdown/replacement difficulties

 aggressive drivers • Other ways to achieve fuel economy: o driver training - believe driver behavior has 30% i nfluence on fuel economy o speed governing (set at 65 mph) o other aerodynamic modifications currently using:

 run batwings on tractor

 bring trailer as close to tractor as possible • Additional questions to be answered (sent follow up email):E-7 o was 10% improvement in fuel economy for skirts only , or with other modifications? o why didn't they expand the use of the Freight Wing products if saved so much (10% of $60 million)? o why are they looking at the Silver Eagle, which the y have barely tested, if their Freight Wing experience was so pos itive? Summary of Telephone Meeting with Hiner Transport Summary of Telephone Meeting with Paul James of Hin er Transport August 21, 2008 • Company/fleet information o Company is a dry van carrier for over 41 years, lo cated in Indiana o Primarily service the Midwest to the east coast, b ut also have some dedicated trucks that travel to California regularl y (about twice a week)  Designated California fleet already equipped with skirts – all on 48’ trailers (requested due to tight turns) o Fleet:  200 tractors, 98% with sleeper cabs  565 trailers (of the trailers, 545 are 53’ers, 20 are 48’ers)  Average age of tractors = 1.8 years (oldest in fle et is a 2004)  Average age of trailers = 3.6 years  Average annual miles driven: • Tractors: 135,000 mpy • Trailers: normal operation is 40,000-60,000 mpy o Just now working on becoming SmartWay certified, a lthough have been doing a lot of the required improvements for a while • Aerodynamic Equipment o Have 15 Freight Wing skirts which got for half pri ce (through a grant); have had them for approximately 2 years  All skirts are installed on dedicated long haul fl eet on 48’ trailers, because that dedicated fleet must negotia te o When first investigated skirts, considered Transte x Composite as well as Freight Wing, but decided Freight Wing was the better choice at the time o Tractor aerodynamic equipment  All have cab fairing, side fairings,  About half have tank fairings – due to cost (maint enance on tank fairings is expensive - $400-$600 to repair th em, so lose benefit of fuel savings)  Have never used gap fairings or nose cones because not sure they “do the job” o Boat tails  Don’t believe they are effective  Inefficient for loading & unloadingE-8  Shippers/receivers who may load or unload may caus e damage because they are not familiar with the equip ment • Future use of fairings – would love to install the m on all trailers, but the cost of fuel is eating up capital so can’t afford i t at this time • Fuel economy estimates o Fleet average is currently about 7 mpg (used to be 6.38-6.4 mpg), taking into account all improvements o Have seen a 0.2 mpg improvement due to skirts o Have seen a 0.4 mpg improvement due to super singl e tires o Idling restrictions add more improvement o Driver behavior major contributor – offer fuel con servation bonus to drivers who increase fuel economy & extra training to those who do not • Other ways achieve fuel savings o Super singles on 75-80% of fleet o Aluminum wheels o Set truck speeds at 65 mph (reduced it from 68 mph 2 years ago) o 80% have idle control • Installation o Freight Wing helped them install the skirts o Estimated it took about 8 hours or more to install on one trailer o Estimated it took 2-3 hours to install/replace a p anel • Costs o Would not specify an exact cost; first said skirts cost more than $1500 per trailer, and later said costs were about $1800-$2000 per trailer • Damage/Repair issues o They have had some damage problems and had to repl ace panels on three of the skirts o One situation was driver error o Most problems were associated with steep ramps, de tours and construction zones o When there was damage, in one case the driver was able to return without any problems, while in the others they had to cut off the portion of the skirt with tin snips (because it was hanging/flapping) so that it would not cause damage o No problems with pieces flying off were experience d o Getting replacement panels was not a problem beca use Freight Wing gave them some extra panels • Driver comments: initially drivers said the tract or and trailer handled better with the skirts • Tires o Use super singles on 75-80% of trailer fleet – mor e fuel efficient o All other tires are low pro tires o Super singles primarily used on tractors, but they have been testing them on 50 trailersE-9  But drivers complain that when they turn corners t hey have difficulty seeing the tires (being able to see the tires helps them to turn safely) o Have had 5 flats with super singles on the road so far, and in all cases the situation was taken care of within 2 1⁄2 ho urs (Michelin & Bridgestone have very good service)  With flats it is important to shut down the vehicl e, so you don’t damage the wheel o Tire life:  250,000-260,000 miles for drive tires  110,000-115,000 miles for steer tires o Use auto tire inflation system (some tires have la sted 320,000 miles due to tire monitoring & proper inflation) with all new tires o Recaps:  Tractor drive tires: 1-2 recaps  Super singles: 1 recap only  Trailer tires: maximum 2 recaps  Cost to recap: approximately $82 per tire Additional comments (submitted in writing): • how cost prohibitive this program is due to the nu mber of trailers that would have to have the modification and most carrie rs would decide not to service California due to the costs. It would also cause customers to abandon the CA market and their customers due to ca rriers not willing or being able to run those lanes cost effectively. • most of these devices are not cost effective and d o not provide the savings unless the trucks are moving over 40/45 mil es per hour. • unless trailers travel more than 80,000 miles per year, the savings these devices create, never really materialize over a lon g period of time, perhaps 5 or more years. Summary of Telephone Meeting with Hy-Vee Foods 9/9/08 • Company/Fleet information o Spoke with Jim Moore of Hy-Vee Foods o Company is a major food retailer headquartered in Iowa, serving a 7-state area in the Midwest  232 retail outlets  60% backhaul, and also some contract freight hauli ng o 125 tractors (all day cabs)  Average 142,000 miles/year o 275 trailers (all 53’ers)  185 reefers  90 dry vans o Average round trip = 408 miles  Many interstate trips, 800 loads/weekE-10 • 100-110 overnights (drivers stay in motels) • Aerodynamic equipment o All tractors have aerodynamic modifications (side fairings, roof fairings) o Trailers:  Originally started testing 5 skirts last May  Using Silver Eagle skirts & air talons/strakes (on sides of trailer)  In July retrofitted 50 trailers with skirts & stra kes  Benefits of Silver Eagle double walled skirts: • keep clearance to 20” to prevent damage with steep inclines • lightweight – all aluminum o Converted some tires to super singles • Fuel economy: o • Costs: paid about $1900 per trailer o Estimated ROI: 9-12 months, with 2:1 trailer:trac tor ratio (includes both skirts and strakes) o Cost to replace skirt panels: $290 to replace 2 p anels • Other modifications to improve fuel economy: o Speed governing  Began 8/1/08 lowered maximum from 70 mph to 65 mph  Average speed 57 mph with speed governed at 70 mph  Average speed less than 56 mph with speed governed at 65 mph • Tires o Began testing Michelin (X-1’s) super singles about 3 years ago  Saw 0.24-0.25 mpg improvement in fuel economy with the tires Summary of Telephone Meeting with Quest Global, Inc . Summary of Meeting on 8/18/08 with Quest Global Sho p Foreman, Mike McFarland. The company is located in Georgia

• Fleet information o Company has more than 150 tractors and about 238 t railers – all are 53’ reefers o Their current tractors are all fully aerodynamic; all are sleepers  Mostly had Freightliner Columbia, but now switchin g to Volvo  Their tractors average 25,000-30,000 miles per mon th (use team drivers) o Trailers made by Wabash o Keep their trailers about 3-4 years, then sell the m (try to keep everything within warranty)E-11  Plan to remove the skirts and re-install on new tr ailers when upgrade • Aerodynamic equipment o Began installing Laydon trailer skirts at the end of 2007 o 75% of all their trailers are currently installed with skirts o Their skirts are comprised of 8-10 panels per side o Continuing to retrofit about 3 trailers per week o Only use Laydon product, and not sure why the comp any owner selected them over Freight Wing or others o Down side of skirts:  Adds 200-250 lbs to the load  CA bridge law requires them to set their skirts an d axles to comply with CA, rather than having to remove the sk irts to bridge out when get to CA • Estimated fuel savings o When initially tested the product, saw savings of about 1/8 mile per gallon (12.5%) • Maintenance/Repair issues o Have not experienced many problems with the skirts – estimated about 5 problems since installation, some of them due to driver error  Minimal damage to the skirts, where nothing became detached, and driver was able to secure the skirts until they could get to a repair facility  Repaired by replacing panels o Winter – some drivers complain about some ice buil dup, but they say they can just kick it off • Costs: $1400-$1500 per trailer • Benefits of skirts: o Fuel savings o Driver feedback indicates vehicles track better in the wind with skirts o No benefits to refer seen with skirting • Tires o Do not use low rolling resistance tires – only reg ular, low pro tires. They looked at SmartWay approved tires, but since t hey lease their tractor tires from Bridgestone, they only pay for m iles driven  Looked at super singles, but have not been convinc ed that the benefits outweigh the costs  Have changed from 14 ply to 16 ply tires o Recap the trailer tires  Recaps cost them about $94 per tire o They have been using auto inflation on their tires for more than 2 years; pros & cons of them:  Pro: improved tire maintenance, butE-12  Con: sometimes drivers continue driving on them w hen they should stop – resulting in more damage  Steer tires get between 120,000 & 200,000 miles Summary of Telephone Meeting with Twin City Transpo rtation, Inc. Staff met by telephone with Herb Martin, President of Twin City Transportation on 9/3/08 • Company/fleet information: o Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, operate in all 48 states o Defines his company as a “small carrier” o 65 trucks: 40 pulling dry vans & 25 pulling flat beds  All sleeper cabs o Ratio of trailers to tractors:  Dry vans 3:1  Flat beds: 1:1 o Drivers: 1⁄2 are independent owner-operators; 1⁄2 are company employees o Average age of tractors 5 years (only purchase u sed – currently looking at 2006’s) o Average age of trailers: 7 years (always buy new) o Currently applying to be a SmartWay member • Aerodynamic devices: o Purchased 20 Freight Wing skirts 2 years ago – ple ased with them and plan to purchase more – will put on new trailer s  Have the original aluminum devices  Had not investigated the newer, plastic skirts o Also tried Air Tabs – did not see any benefit with them • Costs of skirts: approximately $2000 for the alum inum skirts • ROI: estimated less than 3 years • Fuel economy: o Average fuel economy 6.6 mpg o Have seen a 0.1-0.2 mpg improvement with the skirt s o Use engine governing, mostly at 65 mph (& 5 @ 70 m ph) • Damage/Maintenance: o He did not have exact damage data, but estimated t hat at least 5 of the skirts had gotten damaged to the point of needi ng to replace a panel o Sometimes damage could be easily repaired o Twice the damage to the skirts was severe enough t hat the driver worried that friction might cause a piece to break off, so they stopped to repair it before proceeding o Reasons for damage: (some driver error, some unavo idable accidents)  1⁄2 the time the driver hit something on the roadE-13  1⁄2 the time damage caused by going over a high cent er (docks, railroad tracks) o Solution: train drivers to be more careful & avoi d circumstances with extreme conditions o Weather/snow concerns: have driven the skirts thr ough winter conditions & have never had a problem with snow • Installation: o Freight Wing did 15 of the installations, Twin Cit y did 5 o Freight Wing can install them in about 2 1⁄2 person hours • Driver reactions to skirts: o Owner-operators like the skirts because they save fuel o Employee operators also like the skirts  Some have commented that they feel more stable in a crosswind • Tires: o Just a few months ago began using low rolling resi stance (LRR) tires on 3 trailers  Plan to convert all tractors & trailers to LRR tir es  Will not try super singles because heard from othe r fleets about problems with repairs, and most of his loads are time sensitive o Tire life:  Tractor tires: 70,000-150,000 miles  Trailer tires: 15-24 months (track age, not milea ge) – estimate at least 80,000 miles Summary of Telephone Meeting with Normandin Transit 9/3/08 • Staff spoke by telephone with Daniel Pascau, Fleet Manager • Company information o General freight company for 20 years o Located near Montreal o Company is not a SmartWay partner – has been doing SmartWay approved modifications before SmartWay was develope d, but they have not been pleased with how EPA/SmartWay handles things o As a company, want to utilize as many aerodynamic devices as possible to maximize fuel economy • Fleet: o 255 tractors – entire fleet are Kenworth  Have 8 new T660’s (SmartWay certified) o 500 trailers  50 reefers  65 heated trailers  385 53’ dry vans o Lifespan:  Keep tractors 4-4 1⁄2 yearsE-14 • Miles per year on tractors: ~135,000  Keep trailers 10-12 years (some even longer) • Miles per year on trailers: ~80,000-95,000 • Miles per year on reefers: 125,000 • Fuel economy: o Average mileage for fleet: 7.3 mpg (although some get 8.4 mpg) o Fuel economy achieved with skirts:  5%-6% with aluminum skirts on reefers  7%-8% (sometimes 10%) with new reefers & new skir ts o Strategies for improving fuel economy:  Aerodynamic on tractors  Low rolling resistance tires (have been buying acc ording to rolling resistance for a long time) & super single tires  Lightweight rims  Nitrogen inflated tires  Skirts  Proactive driver training and follow up  Speed governed to not exceed 65 mph  APU’s • Trailer aerodynamics: o History:  First tried un-named front end modification that d idn’t work  Began prototyping to build their own devices  Began using Freight Wing skirts in July 2007 • Began with 10 skirts, now have ordered 30 more o First priority is to install skirts on all reefers , then on box-type trailers o Freight Wing products used:  1 st used Low Rider – aluminum with 6” rubber at the bo ttom for flexibility  Now using/ordering Aeroflex Belly Fairing – called it “the most perfect product” – put the first one in 2 mont hs ago o Transtex Composite skirt:  Have one in fleet  Considered a “good product,” but does not like the rigidity at the bottom ( results in scraping of the bottom caus ing damage) o AT Dynamics Boat Tail – never tried it but has str ong concern about safety & possible damage to it when backing u p • Installation o Freight Wing did initial installations & trained t heir people to do them o Initially took Normandin staff 5 1⁄2 hours & 4 peopl e o Expect it will take 2 people 2 1⁄2 hours o Plan to purchase new trailers already spec’d with skirts (trailers from Manac & reefers from Great Dane & Utility)E-15 o Cost to have dealer install skirts: $500-$600 Can adian • Maintenance/Damage: o Freight Wing aluminum skirts: lost one rivet, but otherwise no damage, even during winter o New plastic skirt: did a test where bent the mate rial at a 75 degree angle & left it for 1⁄2 hour, then when released, it bounced right back to its original configuration o When asked how they deal with steep inclines, repo rted that they train their drivers to take it slow and see the ski rts working • Costs: o Skirts: CONFIDENTIAL o Tires: recently bought 80 new tires with nitrogen inflation - $1000 each o Rims: recently bought 80 aluminum wheels - $450 e ach • Driver comments about skirts: o Claim to feel the difference with skirts  Follow straighter  Smoother ride Less resistance/eliminates cross wind effects Summary of Telephone Meeting with J. B. Hunt Transp ort Services, Inc. Below is a summary of yesterday's (8/6/08) phone me eting with J.B. Hunt. In attendance from their end were: Gary Whicker (Sr. VP Engineering), Craig Harper (COO), Heather Matthews, and Christy Noland.

• JB Hunt owns a fleet of just under 25,000 53-foot t railers, as well as over 35,000 intermodal containers • Their business model is comprised of four different types of services: o regular over-the-road services o dedicated contract services o intermodal services o non-asset brokerage services (where they typically contract with other trucking companies) • To date, they have only tested two trailers with Sm artWay aerodynamic devices (fairings), which they received a few month s ago (Freight Wing products). o Their experience with the two existing devices has not been positive, since one was delivered damaged. In addi tion, their maintenance staff are resistant to the new technolo gy. o They are already purchasing low rolling resistance tires o They are considering testing a new technology offer ed by Adamworks (adamworksinc.com), out of Denver. That product is designed to lower the bottom of the fairing closer to the road when traveling at higher speeds. Estimated price: $199 5-$2699 (turnkey).E-16 • Attendees seemed supportive of the Heavy Duty Green house Gas Emission Reduction Measure o They felt that holding shippers/receivers accountab le is a logical and effective way to achieve compliance o They also felt that accountability would also be ac hieved by only holding shippers (and not receivers) accountable, s ince the major receivers are shippers as well o They had some concerns that brokers might not alway s be held responsible, since in most transactions brokers are not on the bill of lading (although J.B. Hunt is). They expressed con cern that some shippers might get brokers' licenses to avoid respo nsibility for compliance • Despite their support for this measure, they felt t hat it would increase the costs of tractors and trailers to the industry, whi ch would lend further support to their intermodal services, which would b ecome even more attractive to customers o They no longer send over-the-road trucks to Califor nia from east of the Rockies (only by rail) o Their average dray distance in California is 49 mil es Summary of In-Person Meeting with Conway Freight On July 14, 2008, ARB staff met with Randal Mullett and Mike Grima of Conway. Also in attendance was Mike Tunnel of ATA. The mai n points they communicated to us were: * Conway has already taken measures to save fuel: reduced governed speed for all their trucks and using low rolling resistance t ires in all of their Conway Truckload vehicles. They have a business relations hip with Laydon Composites (aerodynamic components manufacturer) and have been testing their products. * They have 10,000 box-type trailers that travel th roughout the U.S. About 10% of their business is in California. They currently do n't keep track of which trailers come to California and would have to retrofit a sub stantial portion of their trailers to meet the California requirements * They stated that retrofitting with skirts does no t result in a good return over investment. Four years ago, 400 new Conway trailer s were outfitted with skirts. The fleet was pretty much dedicated, driving only b etween a few locations. Even so, virtually all skirts suffered road damage and n eeded to be frequently replaced. About a year ago, when they acquired CFI , the fleet was no longer dedicated to a few locations and traveled to differ ent locations nationwide. That was when they decided not to continue and have been taking the skirts off, based on the following results: - The skirts were being damaged and required hi gh maintenance/repair costs. Snow was piling onto the skirts, increasing trailer weight. Snow and ice also change the air flow, reducing effectiveness. They h ad to replace the skirts when the skirts were damaged, increasing costs. Note th at they tested the older generation of skirts and not the more flexible ones that may be more durable andE-17

less prone to easily damage. They have plans to te st the new skirts. - The trucks with skirts were being stopped at the border for inspection, causing delays. - The skirts were damaged by curbs on tight turns and entering customer docks in older city areas. - The trailers with skirts could not be lifted to put on train cars and used in intermodal operations. - They stated that they observed fuel economy bene fits of 0.2 mi/gal at high speed (over 60 mph) operation. Assuming 6 mi/gal, the skirts increased fuel economy by about 3 percent at high speeds. They di d not get the 6 percent benefit they were expecting and there is no benefit at speeds below 45 mph making the net increase in fuel economy much smalle r than the 3% received at high speeds. Conway requested that we reconsider the trailer req uirements and look at realworld versus test track or lab data on the technolo gy fuel economy benefits. Also, they requested that we consider a longer phas e-in for trailer retrofits because the cost of retrofitting their trailers is high and will not provide the return over investment to offset the cost. They al so asked us to provide flexibilities for those companies with the highest SmartWay environmental performance score.