Snowplow Simulator Training Evaluation: Potential Fuel and Drivetrain Maintenance Cost Reduction

摘要

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) introduced simulator-based training in 2004, when maintenance crews in five rural districts received a third-party snowplow safety topics course on the L-3 TranSim VS III simulator. In 2005, a simulator was deployed in the Globe District, initiating a training program for the 60-plus snowplow operators there. Local volunteer trainers, all experienced plow operators, went through a Train the Trainer course from L-3 staff. On that basis, in early 2006, all of the districts drivers took a Fuel Management Driving Techniques (FMDT) course on proper shifting techniques for better fuel economy. The goal of this study was to identify the benefits of simulator-based training in fuel economy and driveline repair costs for ADOT's heavy vehicle fleet. It focused on the Globe District, to assess: (1) Potential improvements to fuel economy, recorded in the simulator training session, (2) Driver performance in the real-world environment, in terms of fuel economy, (3) Changes in fuel economy and repair costs related to proper driving/shifting skills. The project attempted to measure fuel performance in a real-world driving environment by establishing a 168-mile round-trip test route between two maintenance yards, on a winding route with many steep grades. Test runs were done with five newly-hired drivers, both before and after the fuel training, in both automatic and manual-shift plow trucks.