Relay mobility in long-haul trucking optimizing energy efficiency and community engagement

The conventional point-to-point long-haul trucking model, coupled with federal Hours of Service regulations, causes equipment and cargo to spend as much as half the shipping time idling roadside and forces trucks to drive a significant proportion of “empty miles”. This contributes 48-64 tons of wasted carbon based emissions and 3,500-4,500 gallons of wasted diesel fuel per truck annually. The same constraints limiting freight capacity cause truck drivers to spend a significant amount of unpaid time on the road, creating a mentally and physically exhausting profession with limited monetary reward. As a result, the industry has a gap in human capacity (long-haul truck drivers) that collectively costs $8+ billion annually and compromises the sustainability of the entire trucking industry. The proposed mobility solution is a software technology that pools shipments and matches tractors and drivers with trailers and cargo in a relay model to ensure equipment and cargo keep moving while returning drivers home daily. The relay model presents a compelling alternative to the conventional point-to-point method by eliminating the unnecessary truck idle time built into supply chains. This technology is supported by a machine learning based, predictive analytics module that anticipates dynamic day-to-day relay disruptions and recommends mitigation strategies. Preliminary evidence suggests that implementing such a model with relay exchange nodes located in economically distressed rural communities along major trucking corridors could provide significant local economic opportunities while improving working conditions for the long-haul trucking workforce. Phase I focuses on engaging relay trucking stakeholders in three rural communities to test this hypothesis and collect critical end-user and community design inputs. A successful Phase I project with input from economically distressed communities along a trucking corridor creates the foundation for Phase II, an environmentally-informed pilot of live trucks and drivers on a trucking lane engaging one or more of these communities as rural relay nodes. Future applications of the proposed mobility solution include software-as-a-service licensing for large fleets and a relay brokerage platform for small carriers and owner-operators. Early analysis suggests significant benefits for both environment and businesses: 1) reduced carbon based emissions from idling trucks and empty backhauls (48-64 tons/truck/year); 2) reduced shipping time (up to 50%); 3) reduced costs from wasted fuel ($10,500-$13,500/truck/year); and 4) reduced energy dependence by eliminating aforementioned fuel waste (3,500-4,500 gallons/truck/year). Furthermore, a relay trucking model would double asset utilization, cut delivery times in half, and decrease the high cost of truck driver turnover.