Why Should the Trucking Industry Endorse Smooth Concrete Pavements?

1. FUEL ECONOMY

The IGGA, in partnership with the ACPA and MIT’s concrete sustainability HUB, has developed a free-use online calculator for DOTs and other government agencies to quantify the fuel economy benefit of concrete pavements. Research shows that the more flexible a pavement is, the more it bends under the weight of heavy truck traffic. The result of this is the subtle but constant sensation of driving up hill. The more rigid a pavement is, the less bending occurs and therefore the more flat the pavement is.

Why does this matter? This calculator will quantify the cost and carbon benefit of fuel saved while driving on rigid concrete pavements. Fuel cost and carbon output are two major concerns of today’s trucking industry. When comparing an ultra-smooth concrete pavement to a mid-condition asphalt pavement, savings range from 0.6 cents per truck per mile in northeastern climates to 1.8 cents per truck per mile in hotter climates like Houston—or even 2.1 cents per truck per mile in Florida. Seventy to seventy-five percent of the total amount is associated with the rigid vs. flexible feature, with the remaining percentage associated with a reduced International Roughness Index (IRI).

2. FREIGHT AND VEHICLE DAMAGE

When trucks traverse a pavement section that has a lot of bumps and potholes, the truck bounces up and down on the pavement. This vigorous vertical movement can cause unnecessary damage to freight as well as premature maintenance to the truck. This ultimately results in a cost to the trucking industry in the form of freight loss, maintenance costs, and idle truck time.

3. SAFETY

Diamond ground and safety grooved surfaces are proven to be some of the safest pavement surfaces available in the highway industry. The same bumps that cause unwarranted damage to freight and trucking equipment can also cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle or swerve out of their driving lane. This increases the risk of injury and litigation within the trucking industry. Similarly, safety grooving helps to prevent ponding and maintain tire contact during wet weather events. This drastically reduces

hydroplaning. Research in the state of Wisconsin showed a 42% reduction in vehicle accidents in dry weather and a 57% reduction in wet weather when the pavement was diamond ground. Approximately 500,000 truck accidents occur a year. Of course it is not realistic to think we could reduce that number by 47% unless we could get every truck driving on diamond ground concrete pavements 100% of the time, but every mile of diamond ground concrete pavement will help reduce this number.