On the ground, the ECOTRAVID project is moving forward

samat LIFE ECOTRAVID is a pioneering algorithmic tool designed to enhance hauler fleet management. It serves to reduce fuel consumption, save money, and preserve the environment. The LIFE ECOTRAVID project is led by CLS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM) and the Samat Aquitaine group. It is co-financed by the financial instrument of the European Union LIFE.

The Samat Group is a leading provider of specialized transportation services for hazardous materials, including hydrocarbons, chemicals, and gas. With a fleet of approximately 100 heavy goods vehicles and 300 tankers per agency, the group operates on a regional, national, and international level.

The company has been partner and signatory to the ADEME ecological transition charter since 2011. It has set itself a target of reducing its entire fleet’s fuel consumption by 1% per year.

“The LIFE ECOTRAVID project is perfectly aligned with our set objectives, and the app will enable us to make considerable energy savings” adds Eric Barras, Director of Samat Aquitaine.

Samat truck Fitted sensors enable the trucks to be geolocated. Routes are then calculated, considering multiple factors such as road topography, traffic, and the weather. The route selected by the fleet manager is then sent to the driver’s smartphone for GPS satellite navigation. It’s simplicity and state of the art, all in one!

“The ECOTRAVID app compares all the data on our operating schedules with a set of algorithms developed by our partners Fraunhofer ITWM and CLS, who together created the app. It then uses this information to suggest several routes to the operator, who chooses the one they find best suited” says Delphine Caille, Administration and Operations Manager – Samat Aquitaine. “A sensor is fitted inside the wheel rim, to send data on tire pressure and temperature. We then fix a modem inside the chassis and connected to the EBS system to send live data to the platform.”

A first series of tests is currently being conducted on 20 trucks and 20 trailers operated by Samat, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of this groundbreaking tool. “CLS has always had as core mission to use its assets to preserve earth’s resources and its welfare. ECOTRAVID’s project combines the expertise of our domain in satellite data and our goal to enhance green mobility transformation”, says Pierre Cuny, Product manager at CLS’s Mobility Business Unit.

“Getting closer and closer to the end of this adventure, we are now focus on the data results in order to extrapolate them to a potential market in the future, taking into account the challenges of the sector. Road transport market has many particularities regarding its behavior and working conditions, those who can vary depending on the fleet size, geographic location of the work field, commercial activity’s nature of the client, etc. Today’s challenge is to prove VMC solution’s performance and accuracy to reduce SAMAT’s carbon footprint. As the project keep evolving, long term goal will be to reach new adaptability levels to respond to a wider group of specific needs depending on the industry type.