COLOGNE, Germany (Aug. 30, 2013) — Synthetic rubber producer Lanxess A.G. has unveiled a tool to help fleet managers figure out how to reduce the fuel consumption of their vehicles and thus their operating costs by switching their vehicles to tires with low rolling resistance.
The "Lanxess Vehicle Fleet Calculator" determines individually how much can be saved, the payback period for the investment in green tires and the potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
"For operators of large fleets, an increase of even a few cents in the price of fuel results in several thousand dollars in additional costs," a Lanxess spokesman said. "At the same time, on account of increasing stresses on the environment, it is becoming increasingly important to reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by cars and trucks."
The calculator's algorithm also evaluates further potential fuel savings and environmental impacts for other improvements such as optimizing tire pressure, maintaining accurate front wheel alignment and special driver training programs.
The Fleet Calculator can be used by trucking companies, courier services, institutions such as municipal governments and public authorities or any company with a vehicle fleet. The program takes the use of different types of vehicles into consideration, including passenger cars, industrial trucks, tractors, waste management trucks, transit buses, tour buses, snowplows, street sweepers, sewer cleaning trucks, road maintenance vehicles, trucks and fire engines.
Lanxess said it developed the fleet calculator in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich.
It is available free of charge at http://fleet.green-mobility.com/en.