A short Literature Review on Sawlog and Pulpwood Transport Efficiency and Fuel Consumption

Abstract

Timber transport is one of the main components of woody supply chain, which causes high costs and considerable emissions depending on truck size, type, transport distance, and payload. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of Softwood plantations and regrowth hardwood native forests estimated that the most significant contributor to total greenhouse emissions per unit of wood production in softwood plantation was log haulage at 37%. For regrowth native hardwood forests, log transportation contributed 23% of greenhouse gas emissions. This research, built on existing literature, focused on how timber harvesting transportation costs and emissions to the environment can be reduced, specifically, the transport of the industrial timber logs from the Forest Stockpile to the processing facility or unloading points. The review summarized the data and highlighted that the efficiency and emissions data could be categorized into five themes: Higher Capacity Transportation (HCT), Road Networks & Surfaces, Logistics and Planning, Fleet Replacement, and Fuel efficiency technologies. Fuel efficiency improvements across these themes ranged from 3% to 43% within the reviewed case studies. Several studies researched the fuel efficiency of High Capacity Transport indicated that the fuel consumption in liters per ton kilometer was 8-11% lower in the 92-tonne combination HCT compared to a 72-tonne combination HCT due to the increased payload for High Capacity Transport. Road networks and the composition of the surfaces have been shown to have a strong correlation to emissions. Studies have shown a 16.7% increase in emissions from a network of predominantly highways to a higher proportion of Forrest and Gravel roads. Studies that included data on vehicle age found efficiency improvements of up to 26% when new vehicles’ fuel consumption was compared to older vehicles. Newer truck fleets incorporate newer technologies, with reports showing fuel consumption improvements of up to 43% with less than a two-year payback period.