Modeling fuel saving investments and fleet management in the trucking industry: The impact of shipment performance on GHG emissions

Much has been written about the potential of new technologies to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of trucking, but much less on the determinants of these investments. The Trucking Sector Trip Segmentation Model (TSTS) predicts how firms make these investments in the context of operating heterogeneous truck fleets to service the spatially dispersed demand of shippers. This analysis suggests that improving the performance of trucking (speeding up shipments) could significantly reduce GHG emissions: investments in these technologies are incentivized by fuel savings accruing sooner. This effect could be large in the US as trucking firms often discount the future heavily. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.