The driver is critically important in determining how the vehicle is operated and consequently has a considerable influence on fuel consumption and emissions. Of particular interest in the context of the research reported here is the scope to provide training to drivers to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Often known as ecodriving, this approach has gathered momentum in Europe but has not been systematically explored in an Australian setting. The primary objective of this project was to develop, conduct and evaluate a pilot ecodriver training program aimed at reducing fuel consumption of heavy commercial vehicles involved in the cement industry. The project was a collaborative exercise. Drivers from a company undertook training provided by an independent driver training company. The evaluation was also carried out independently. The structure of this paper is as follows. Section 2 identifies the key characteristics of ecodriving and summarises international experience with the ecodriver training programs. The field trial and its results are then discussed in Section 3. The final section of the paper (Section 4) presents the conclusions of this study and outlines future directions for this research. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E217541.
Abstract