Perttu Anttila, Johannes Ojala, Teijo Palander, Kari Väätäinen. (2023). The effect of road characteristics on timber truck driving speed and fuel consumption based on visual interpretation of road database and data from fleet management system. Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 4 article id 10798. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10798

Keywords: fuel consumption; forest roads; CAN bus; forest logistics; greenhouse gas emissions; log truck; road classes

Highlights: Finnish road and pavement classes explain driving speed and fuel consumption of a timber truck; Other significant explanatory variables include the number of road crossings, season, proportion of distance travelled with a loader, and total laden mass of a truck; In the future, higher-resolution tracking data is needed to construct generalisable models for 76-tonne vehicles.

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Road transport produces 90% of greenhouse gas emissions in timber transport in Finland. It is therefore necessary to understand the factors that affect driving speed, fuel consumption, and ultimately, emissions. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of road characteristics on timber truck driving speed and fuel consumption. Data from the fleet management and transport management systems of two timber trucks were collected over a year. A sample of 104 trips was drawn, and the tracking points were overlaid on the road data in a geographical information system. Thereafter, work phases were determined for the points, and they were visually classified into road and pavement classes. Subsequently, the data of 80 trips were utilised in regression analysis to further study the effects of the visually interpreted variables on driving speed and fuel consumption. Fuel consumption was explained by the proportion of forest roads and distance travelled with a loader, and the number of crossings and season when driving without a load. When driving with a load, both asphalt and gravel pavements decreased consumption, in contrast to an unpaved road. Crossings increased fuel consumption, as did the winter and spring months, and the total laden mass of the truck. In conclusion, the study showed that the functional Finnish road and pavement classes can be used to predict driving speed and fuel consumption.

Anttila, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6131-392X E-mail: perttu.anttila@luke.fi
Ojala, UPM Metsä, Sirkkalantie 13 b, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: johannes.ojala@upm.com
Palander, School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Yliopistokatu 7, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9284-5443 E-mail: teijo.s.palander@uef.fi
Väätäinen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Yliopistokatu 6, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6886-0432 E-mail: kari.vaatainen@luke.fi

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