NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Medium and heavy duty commercial truck owners can increase the cargo
capacity of their fleets, reduce fuel consumption and emissions, lower
their maintenance costs and increase their resale value by using
aluminum solutions, said an Alcoa executive who spoke today at CALSTART
National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Green Truck Summit in St.
Louis.
“Think about the opportunity: aluminum can eliminate 30 tons of
lifecycle CO2 emissions and increase payload by 3,300 pounds
in weight-constrained heavy trucks.”
Todd Summe, Division Manager, Product Design and Development at Alcoa,
spoke at the session entitled, “Losing Weight: Lightweight Materials for
Commercial Trucks.” He shared the stage with Dr. Carol Schutte of the
U.S. Department of Energy.
“Aluminum offers the commercial vehicle industry tremendous advantages
to reduce costs, while increasing its sustainability,” Summe said.
“Think about the opportunity: aluminum can eliminate 30 tons of
lifecycle CO2 emissions and increase payload by 3,300 pounds
in weight-constrained heavy trucks.”
Summe, a member of the Technical Committee of the Aluminum Association’s
Aluminum Transportation Group, cited a number of research reports that
support lightweighting with aluminum, including a new study by the
Aluminum Association and Ricardo Engineering on the fuel economy
advantages of lightweighting in heavy trucks.
“Aluminum truly is the most sustainable material for transportation,”
Summe said. “Research shows that for certain commercial vehicle classes,
fuel economy increases as much as 8% per vehicle for every 10% weight
reduction. No other material in the world will give you the combination
of high strength, low weight and recyclability that aluminum provides to
achieve these benefits.”
A copy of Summe’s presentation can be downloaded by clicking here.
http://www.alcoa.com/greentrucksummit
To learn more about Alcoa’s commercial transportation capabilities,
visit http://www.alcoa.com/com_transport/en/home.asp.
About Alcoa
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) is the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum,
fabricated aluminum and alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day
aluminum industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in
the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction,
commercial transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets
over the past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are
flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as
Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and
building systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such
as titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral
part of Alcoa’s operating practices and the product design and
engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow
Jones Sustainability Index for eight consecutive years and approximately
75 percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in
active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 59,000 people in 31
countries across the world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.