Heavy-duty trucking and the energy efficiency paradox: Evidence from focus groups and interviews

Liquefied natural gas: Could it be a reliable option for road freight transport in the EU?

“…The fleet owners do not trust the manufactures' and dealers' quantitative estimations because real fuel savings depends on the tires, road, load, weather conditions and especially the driver behavior. For that reason, to verify the durability and good performance of these innovations, most fleet owners prefer to carry out their own tests, and companies with fewer resources may wait 1-2 years for the results of tests carried out by their partners or competitors before adopting new technologies [72]. Another reason for carrying out their own tests is to wait for driver acceptance of the new technology.…”

“…Fleet managers might not adopt a new technology if it requires excessive driver training or behavior changes. The driver acceptance is related to split incentives, identified as a market failure [72] because, in some cases when the new fuelsaving technology does not bring benefit to the driver, unless they receive a bonus or extra pay for the efficient driving, technology is not well received by drivers. For that reason, the LNG-fueled truck manufacturers must ensure that the new vehicles have the same or more comfort and safety conditions for the driver and a good after-sales service and also provide systems that facilitate fuel consumption control and easy driving.…”

“…For that reason, the LNG-fueled truck manufacturers must ensure that the new vehicles have the same or more comfort and safety conditions for the driver and a good after-sales service and also provide systems that facilitate fuel consumption control and easy driving. Another split incentive is present in the resale market, where new fuel saving technologies are not valued because the buyers are not aware of the benefits of the new technology, and in many cases, they buy the truck for use in different activities, or the people who are responsible for the purchase are not responsible for the fuel expenses in the company [72]. Additionally, despite the recent reliance in the U.S. on their own NG production and reserves, which consequently could provide LNG price stability in the future, fleet owners and operators are still concerned due to the fuel price uncertainty, as the truck investment might be not sustainable in the case of a high LNG price increase.…”

“…This situation would be of greater concern to European fleet owners due to the small local NG reserves and production, forcing them to rely on NG imports. Other aspects identified by fleet owners as potential barriers to new technologies are customer's concerns [72]. Many people know the negative environmental impact of diesel combustion, especially air pollutants, but few of them know the LNG combustion benefits in the air quality.…”

“…Although, there are countries that have more experience with LNG-fueled trucks, such as China and the U.S., that have not experienced these problems, these countries have had a slow introduction of this technology. In these countries, the main barriers for the widespread commercial introduction of a new alternative fuel in road freight transport are market failures and externalities that do not give customers the ability to rely on LNG-fueled trucks in their fleets [71,72]. There have been isolated and quite recent LNG demonstration tests on performance and emissions (TTW) in private fleets in the EU [38,73], but there has been no comprehensive analysis to facilitate their mass introduction.…”