PREDICTING FUEL CONSUMPTION AND TRAVEL TIME OF MOTOR TRANSPORT VEHICLES

EXTENSIVE DATA ON FUEL CONSUMPTION AND TRAVEL TIME OF HEAVIER TRUCKS HAVE BEEN COLLECTED BY RESEARCH ENGINEERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS UNDER RESEARCH CONTRACTS WITH THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS. ADDITIONAL FIELD MEASUREMENTS WERE SUPPLIED AND THE TOTAL INFORMATION USED TO ASSIST IN IDENTIFYING THE FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DEVELOPING A FORMULA FOR PREDICTING FUEL CONSUMPTION OR TRAVEL TIME. IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE EQUATIONS THE FIRST APPROACH WAS TO INVESTIGATE A THEORETICAL WORK AND ENERGY METHOD FOR MAKING THE PREDICTION. BY MAKING A COMPARISON OF THE THEORETICAL VALUES OF FUEL CONSUMPTION AND TRAVEL TIME WITH THE ACTUAL MEASURED VALUES, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND THE FACTORS INVOLVED AND THEN TO MAKE AN EMPIRICAL MATHEMATICAL FIT OF THE DATA TO AN EQUATION. THE PREDICTION OF FUEL CONSUMPTION DEPENDS ON THE VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS OF GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT AND BRAKE HORSEPOWER AT WIDE-OPEN THROTTLE AS WELL AS THE ROAD CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DISTANCE TRAVERSED, THE LENGTH OF DOWNHILL DISTANCE, AND THE AMOUNT OF RISE IN THE HIGHWAY PROFILE. THE PREDICTION OF TRAVEL TIME LIKEWISE DEPENDS ON THESE VEHICLE AND ROAD CHARACTERISTICS IN THE CASE OF RELATIVELY ROLLING OR MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. HOWEVER, IN RELATIVELY FLAT TOPOGRAPHY AND FREE MOVING TRAFFIC, THE TRAVEL TIME IS A FUNCTION OF THE PROPERLY POSTED SPEED LIMIT. THE FORMULAS PRESENTED IN THIS PAPER WILL BE BENEFICIAL FOR FUTURE HIGHWAY PROGRAMMING AND PLANNING PURPOSES IN EVALUATING BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM VARIOUS ALTERNATE HIGHWAY LOCATIONS. IN ADDITION, THIS INFORMATION CAN BE USED FOR DETERMINING THE ECONOMICS OF HAULING COMMODITIES IN LARGE TRUCKS ON ONE ROUTE VS ANOTHER, FOR COMMERCIAL OPERATION OR CONSTRUCTION PURPOSES. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/334/334-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Sawhill, Roy B
  • Firey, Joseph C
• Conference:
  • 41st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1962-1-8 to 1962-1-12
• Publication Date: 1962

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 27-46
• Monograph Title: Vehicle characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 334
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economics; Empirical methods; Forecasting; Freight transportation; Fuel consumption; Gross weight; Highway planning; Highways; Location; Mathematical analysis; Programming (Planning); Route choice; Speed limits; Travel time; Trucks; Vehicle characteristics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Highway location
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway programming
• Subject Areas: Economics; Energy; Freight Transportation; Highways; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222754
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 5 1994 12:00AM