The Experiment Proved: Trucknet’s Solution Saves Fuel

A great deal of excitement spread through Trucknet on December 18th, when the company received the results of the pilot project that it conducted with the Israeli army. According to the results, the Trucknet Smart Catalyst fuel converter, which uses the company’s exclusive technology, successfully demonstrated a 7% savings on fuel consumption under laboratory conditions. This translates as a 15% reduction in overall polluting emissions from engines – a potential annual savings of tens of millions of shekels.

The Israeli army already announced that, in light of these results, it intends to conduct a follow-up pilot study under field conditions. The U.S. army also plans to conduct a similar pilot, after having evaluated the company’s advanced technology for reducing empty truck rides.

The heavy transportation sector is responsible for approximately 20% of all the polluting emissions in the world. In order to attain the international goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050, immediate solutions are required that can be easily implemented and can reduce emissions before truck fleets become electric. Trucknet’s unique smart fuel catalyst is an important milestone and, together with the company’s other smart solutions, it is part of a basket of services that benefits transportation and logistics companies, and can be adapted to existing systems – making the transportation process more efficient and maximizing profits through real time, fully digitalized tracking.

The environmental interest meets the economic one

The Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection recently joined the global trend of reducing polluting emissions in land transportation, and commissioned a first pilot project of its kind in Israel to reduce truck traffic on the roads. The study, which has a budget of NIS 1.25 million for the first year, will be managed by Trucknet Enterprises in partnership with the Israel Innovation Authority and the Israel Transporters Association. For the first time in Israel, empty trucks will be matched with containers that require transportation. The goal: a 35% reduction in unnecessary trips by empty trucks. This pilot is another significant milestone for Trucknet, which continues to garner international recognition and already signed contracts with companies such as DSV, Volkswagen and the Prime Minister’s Office.

A basic understanding of how the logistics and transportation industry works and the planned future battle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions points to the acute necessity for a sharing platform such as Trucknet’s, that doesn’t only reduce empty truck rides and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and saves money, but also can be used as a tool for future trading in greenhouse gas emissions for logistics and transportation companies.

The data is clear: around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the land transportation and logistics industry, of which the trucking industry has a large share of the responsibility. Data from the OECD reveals that nearly 40% of truck trips carry empty loads. The need to optimize is obvious and there is an enormous potential for change that includes the entire logistics chain, from the manufacturer up to the end consumer. Trucknet is not a platform that coordinates between logistic centers and trucks; rather, it is a system that creates matches between empty trucks that aren’t carrying loads and loads that need not be transported, taking into account their size and weight, as well as the type of goods and the type of truck, and all the relevant regulations and laws. This technology is on the verge of revolutionizing a traditional industry that has operated in the same way for decades.

The global market for transporting containers is estimated at around $19 trillion and mainly works according to a system of contractors and subcontractors. “Optimization, in this case, is a real change for this industry, which doesn’t know anything other than traditional methods and, as a result, loses around $32 billion every year,” elaborates Hanan Fridman, Founder and CEO of Trucknet. “In the pilots that we conducted in Europe, we saved 17% of transportation costs, which translated to an annual savings of €2.3 million for certain companies.”

Fridman, who managed large logistics projects in the past, understood the enormous potential of connecting the logistics industry with the principles of a sharing economy during a project to establish solar power stations in the Arava region. Trucknet was founded in 2016 as a platform for sharing resources among logistics, transportation and manufacturing companies, and in 2020 the company was made public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

When the company took part in the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris on behalf of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the OECD understood the potential and Fridman was invited to serve as a member of the Board of the OECD’s International Transport Forum (ITF) alongside representatives from companies such as Amazon, Uber, Rolls Royce, Toyota and others. At the recent Climate Conference in Egypt, Fridman spoke with President Biden’s special envoy on climate change, John Kerry, including about the agreement that the company signed for a pilot project with the U.S. army. “Both the Israeli and U.S. armies understand that joining forces within the organization will generate economic efficiency and a huge savings in fuel and transportation costs, as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions. They view this as a veritable gamechanger.”

Preparing for future trading in greenhouse gas emissions

Trucknet is clearly aligned with the trends embraced by the leaders of the war on greenhouse gas emissions. “Aside from optimizing trips, Trucknet developed an online calculator that calculates emissions during a trip. The next global step,” Fridman explains, “will be about trading greenhouse gas emissions. The concept of ‘carbon credits’ will be a growing field. Polluting companies, including truck fleets, will have to report their greenhouse gas emissions and pay accordingly. In their digital consignment notes (e-CMR) – which is already part of the platform – there will be a section that calculates the amount of emissions during the trip and the accrued reduction. According to Scope 3 of the Climate Convention, the entity that commissioned the trip will have to bear these costs.”

A reduction in emissions will grant the payer credit in their “GHG account,” so that as soon as Trucknet supplies the measuring and tracking device, the platform is able to trade in GHG and carbon credits. “We know how to supply companies with all the information about the GHG emissions of each ride. Moreover, Trucknet is equipped with a professional navigation technology that creates the best driving route for the truck according to its height and weight, as well as determining a route that reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”

The ambitious goal of zero emissions from transportation by 2050 is not feasible without switching to electric vehicles for trucks as well – a process that is now in its infancy. Trucknet’s technology is one of the milestones on the path towards significant reduction until reaching the goal of fully electric truck fleets. The company is already preparing for the day after, and is technologically equipped for the day when the platform will be used by millions of autonomous trucks on the road.

Partnered with trucknet