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Once BNSF was able to identify the most fuel efficient engineers, it then sat down with the top group to determine how they were able to eke more miles per gallon out of their locomotives than their peers. Lance Cosby, also a technology services manager in the business intelligence division, says some of the insights gained were common sense—such as coasting on downhill grades or if you have a planned stop coming up, pull the throttle back and begin coasting into the stop. Others were less obvious.
Through talking with the engineers, and comparing data from operations, BNSF was able to determine certain throttle positions that were ideal under different circumstances. For example, they found that putting the train into the highest position on a steep uphill grade was a real full burner. It was much more fuel efficient to use a lower notch on the throttle—the train didn't get up the hill as fast, but the fuel savings were significant.
In another example, the investigators were able determine that a practice known as stretch braking was also a big fuel waster. In stretch braking an engineer uses the throttle and the brake at the same time—sort of like having the accelerator and the brake pressed in your vehicle to hold steady on a steep hill. Through deeper analysis, the team was able to determine that each instance of stretch braking consumes five extra gallons of fuel.
Under some circumstances stretch braking may be required for safety reasons, but by alerting engineers to that fact that it did burn extra fuel, engineers were able to cut back on their use of stretch braking to only those times that it was required.
As a result of the insights gained from the business intelligence initiative, BNSF was able to implement a Fuel MVP awards program for its engineers in 2007. The program recognizes and awards engineers based on their fuel-efficient train handling practices and measures performance with a fuel-efficiency scorecard. Top engineers are recognized on an internal MVP Web page, where they are also encouraged to share practices through testimonials.
The program was initially rolled out on the transcontinental section of track between Chicago and Los Angeles, but is being quickly expanded throughout the company's extensive operations. As of March, it was being used in 51 territories.
"Our focus right now is to expand it to those territories where the potential fuel savings may be the greatest," says BNSF spokesman Pat Hiatte.
Next: One Part of an Overall Green Strategy
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