Abstract:

The National Comission for Efficient Energy Use (CONUEE) [1] and the German Agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and this last one in collaboration with the Mexican-German Chamber of Commerce (CAMEXA) and the National Chamber of Trucking (CANACAR), are creating Learning Networks in the freight transport of Mexico. These networks are clusters of big, middle and small freight transportation companies, which share experiences and knowledge. In this way the Mexican Federal Government with mainly the participation of companies affiliated to CANACAR complies with part of the National Program for Systems for Management of the Energy (PRONASGEn) to create tools for the management of the energy they use or for implementing practices to save energy. The first network in freight transport in Mexico, and maybe the first one in all Latin America, was formed with 12 companies which operate mainly in Mexico City but which have businesses across the whole country. The teaching-learning process is a collaborative effort, which includes feedback, evaluation and correction of measures implanted hands on. The teaching-learning process is mainly practical and carry out in the facilities of the participating companies. What is learned by one company is shared with the others. The CONUEE is the guide, teacher, expert, organizer, etc., while GIZ/CAMEXA facilitates resources, monitors and evaluates the results guaranteeing the quality of the training.

The success of the network is based on:
a) first learning the importance of knowing the peculiarities of the freight transportation sector, before establishing the objective and the calendar of the workshops and other activities,
b) setting an objective approved by the companies which is shared, understood and agreed with the people being trained,
c) the compromise by the participants to achieve the objective and
d) programming the necessary activities of the network to achieve the objective.

The participating companies initially obtain an energy diagnostics of their operations. One of the key measures to improve energy efficiency in their heavy duty fleet is to implement in their operations the Technical Economically Driving which are techniques easy, quick and cheap to accomplish [2]. The directives of the companies have supported the participation of their employees in the workshops and webinars because of the big benefits they gain; for example, one of the companies which participated consumed 3,528 679 liters of diesel in the year of 2017, therefore a saving of 10% in its operation is significant. The fuel savings achieved in the network during the demonstrative tests were greater than 7%. Besides the economic profits which allow to increase the productivity, there are environmental and social benefits because there is a decrement in greenhouse gases and toxic emissions which affect the environment and health of the population. In this work we explain how the first network was created, the topics of the workshops and webinars, the operation of these activities, the results so far and finally the plans to continue creating these networks.

References:
[1] Comisión Nacional para el Uso Eficiente de la Energía, Accessed Juy 10, 2019. Retrieved from www.conue.gob.mx
[2] J. Garcia-Osorio, A. Maldonado-Susano, N. Dominguez-Vergara, Methods and results of training economically technical driving in Mexico, EDULEARN 2019 Proceedings, pp. 7439-7448, 2019.

Keywords:

Training, energy efficiency, environment, heavy vehicles.