Well-maintained trucks can help save the earth and our atmosphere. There are no two ways about it. Well-maintained trucks produce fewer harmful emissions. What we use to maintain those trucks matters as well.
Whereas environmental impact can be reduced by well-maintained trucks, however, there are far more ways in which truckers, shippers, and trucking companies can help save the atmosphere and mother Earth. We’ll explore those here as well.
How Do Vehicles Harm the Environment?
Even before vehicles make it onto our highways and byways, they are already consuming energy. Imagine all the energy used and pollutants pumped into the atmosphere by the manufacturers. While there’s not much that shipping companies can do about this kind of environmental threat, they can do their part to help reduce emissions in other ways.
Things like air pollution, fuel consumption, and greenhouse gases account for approximately 80 to 90% of the impact that an automobile has on the environment. What can we do to make a dent in that percentage?
A Well-Tuned Engine
It probably comes as no surprise that a well-tuned engine causes less pollution. When your engine is tuned correctly, it runs as efficiently (and burns gas as completely) as possible. When gas burns completely and an engine is running efficiently, harmful emissions are lessened. The following are things that can make your engine run inefficiently and points of interest that should be taken care of during a tune-up:
- Dirty air filter
- Clogged PVC system
- Poorly adjusted ignition timing
- Fouled spark plugs
- Damaged catalytic converter
- On older models, incorrect carburetor adjustment
With regular tune-ups you can reduce air pollution, improve engine performance, increase engine life, and save money on repairs and gas.
The Right Gasoline and Lubricants
The jury is still out on whether or not high-octane fuels are actually worth the cost. High-performance engines tend to knock if high-octane fuels are not used in them. On the other hand, your engine may not perform better, and emissions may not be reduced simply through the use of high-octane fuel. This is a matter of contention, depending on to whom you talk. Burning cleaner fuel, however, may mean (cleaner) less harmful exhaust.
Fuel economy can be improved by some 3% with synthetic drivetrain and engine lubricants. It also cuts CO2 emissions and can save hundreds upon hundreds of gallons of fuel. Not only can extreme conditions be tolerated by your engine when you use low viscosity synthetic lubricants, additional savings will be provided because your truck’s systems will need less maintenance and show less wear.
Other Ways of Reducing Emissions
Here are a few more ways of reducing pollution when it comes to vehicles:
- Train your drivers! Driver training that results in less pollution can include teaching them the following: anticipatory driving, smoother acceleration and braking, idle reduction, engine speed optimization, progressive shifting, and more.
- Keep tires inflated properly.
- Combine as many stops into one trip as possible while being careful not to overload a vehicle.
- Reduce or eliminate idling whenever possible.
- Reduce highway speeds.
- Shipping companies can use intermodal transport when long distances need to be covered.
Mickey Genuine Parts can help maintain your trucks and trailers at any one of our certified service centers conveniently located throughout the United States. Do your own maintenance? Count on Mickey for your parts and accessories. If we receive your order by 2 PM Eastern Standard Time, we can usually start shipping it to you the very same day. Contact us if you have questions or to place an order.