A number of months ago, I wrote a blog post that analyzed the fuel efficiency claims of CSX, which was expressed in ton-miles per gallon. While doing some other efficiency work, I stumbled upon a web site that nicely summarized the efficiencies of a number of transportation modes. Here is a table that summarizes that data by transportation mode.
Transportation Mode | Ton-Miles per Gallon of fuel |
Semi-Trailer Trucks (half loaded) | 90.5 |
Semi-Trailer Trucks (fully loaded) | 186.6 |
Grain Trains (Iowa to West Coast) | 437.0 |
Grain Trains (Iowa to New Orleans) | 640.1 |
Barge (Iowa to New Orleans and return with 35% load) | 544.5 |
Barge (Upper Mississippi Southbound) | 953.0 |
Barge (Upper Mississippi Northbound with 37% load) | 243.0 |
Small Ocean-Going Ship (>30K tons Deadweight) | 574.84 |
Large Ocean-Going Ship (>100K tons Deadweight) | 1043.4 |
Here is what I take from this data:
- Full loads are much more efficient than partial loads.
I have read that one of the ways that Walmart achieves such remarkable distribution efficiency is by making sure that every load is full. This makes sense.
- Going downstream is easier than upstream.
This also makes a lot of sense.
- If you are going to ship freight on the ocean, use a large ship.
The efficiency of large ships explains the large increase in the number of enormous container vessels over the years.
I'm puzzled why half-loaded trucks are more efficient than fully loaded. Is that a typo?
Typo. I have corrected it. Thanks!
Mathscinotes
Thank you for all of your post!
I'll be using this in class next week (9th graders) to reflect on decision-making with mathematics. A great, relevant, and quick way to introduce the topic.
I love it when teachers use the posts. If there is a topic that you think would be interesting to cover here, drop me a note. Generally, I just grab stuff that I am working on.
Mathscinotes