HALIFAX, CANADA – Longer trucks reduce harmful exhaust emissions and improve highway safety, according to a Canadian Trucking Alliance-Natural Resources study; and the Nova Scotia government is taking a look at how longer truck configurations could operate in the province, according to the Web site www.theChronicleHerald.ca. The study claims double-trailer configurations reduce greenhouse gas emissions from trucks and improve highway safety.

The two-year study involved 10 trucking fleets from Western Canada and Quebec that use the longer combination vehicles, known as turnpike doubles, as well as single trailers. The study indicated turnpike doubles are about two to three times safer than the overall tractor-trailer fleet traveling Ontario’s multi-lane highways when measured by kilometers traveled per vehicle. It was estimated they save an average 28.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers of truck travel when compared to single-trailer configurations, or about a 55 percent saving.

Turnpike doubles could reduce the number of trucks on the road by between six and 10 percent, as well. The study estimates 900 million kilometers of truck travel would be saved annually by expanding the use of turnpike doubles, as well as 260 million liters of fuel and 730 kilotons of greenhouse gases.

The study was done by a consulting firm and overseen by a steering committee including Climate Change Central, the Centre for Sustainable Transportation, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada, and the Canada Safety Council.