Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Arlo Biere / The objective of this thesis is to examine the factors that a producer will want to consider when choosing the milk cooling and storage system for the dairy farm. The two systems studied are the traditional, on-farm, bulk tank system and the more recently developed, direct tanker loading system that uses glycol chilling plates. As a long-term investment, the choice of the refrigeration and storage system will have an impact on at least four dimensions of the dairy business. The capital cost of the milk cooling/storage system can range from 2% to 5% of the total capital investment in the farm. Milk cooling costs can also account for as much as 25% of the farm’s total electric costs. The system selected can also have an impact on the hauling charges and the hauling charges can account for as much as 10% of the dairy’s gross revenue. Lastly, the storage system selected may influence the range of markets available to the producer as not all processors accept milk from farms using direct tanker loading. Using an economic engineering approach, three hypothetical farm sizes were considered: milking 700, milking 1,400, and milking 2,100 cows. Capital and operating cost data were collected from three major dairy equipment manufacturers that service the Upper Midwest. Capital expenses for each size farm were priced for conventional bulk tanks and then also priced for glycol plate chiller systems that load directly into tanker trailers. The comparison of annualized costs of ownership for all three farm sizes shows only minor differences in the two systems. For the 700 cow farm, a direct tanker loading system saved 0.24% over the total capital investment; for the 1,400 cow farm, a direct tanker loading system saved 0.97%; and for the 2,100 cow farm, a direct tanker loading system saved 1.19%. Thus, differences in hauling charges, which will vary with each situation, become critical to the choice. Because the overall cost of the two systems are so close, one can expect that the peripheral and non-economic issues may be much more influential on each producer’s decision. Given the known differences in hauling charges, one can conclude that for the 700 cow farm, conventional tanks would be the preferred choice. For the 1,400 cow farm and the 2,100 cow farm, the determining factors come down to the differences in hauling charges and long-term goals for the farm business.

Unpaved mine haul roads provide the principal means of material transport on surface strip coal mines. With the expansion of surface mining in South Africa and in particular coal strip mining, the use of ultra-heavy off-highway trucks, currently capable of hauling payloads in excess of 160t, has become commonplace. Design and management of these roads was based primarily on local experience and adopted empirical guidelines. This design method served its purpose in an era when off-highway trucks were lighter and less financial outlay was required, both in terms of initial pavement construction costs, ongoing road maintenance costs and vehicle maintenance costs. As the trend in increasing truck size continues, these current pavement design and management systems proved inadequate. Not only would the maintenance costs of existing roads increase, vehicle operating and maintenance costs would also increase prohibitively. The primary objective of this research was the development of a portable and practical total haul road design and management methodology that encompasses both pavement strength, wearing course functionality and road maintenance management components. The structural design concerns the ability of a haul road to carry the imposed loads without the need for excessive maintenance. A revised mechanistically derived structural design is presented together with the associated limiting design criteria and recommended target effective elastic modulus values for the construction materials available. The placement of those materials as pavement layers, such as to optimise their performance both as individual layers and over the entire structure is analysed. Functional design aspects refer to the ability of the haul road to perform its function, i.e to provide an economic, safe and vehicle friendly ride. This is dictated to a large degree through the choice, application and maintenance of wearing course materials. The development and analysis of suitable material selection guidelines for use in haul road functional design was allied to the development of a qualitative defect assessment and ranking methodology in order to assess the utility of established performance related selection guidelines and as a basis for revised functional performance parameter specification. A revised range of parameters was derived based on road-user acceptability criteria. By "analysing the trends evident in the individual defect rankings, the predictive capability of the specification was enhanced by depicting the typical functional defects arising when departures are made from the recommended material property limits. Maintenance design concerns the optimal frequency of wearing course maintenance commensurate with minimum vehicle operating and road maintenance costs. A qualitative road roughness evaluation technique was developed as a precursor to the development of a model for roughness progression. Expressions were developed to enable direct comparison to be made between the qualitative roughness defect score and International Roughness Index (IRI). The second element of a maintenance management system was based on models of the variation of vehicle operating and road maintenance costs with a road roughness model. The combination of these models enabled the optimal maintenance strategy to be sought based on the minimisation of these costs. Sub-optimal maintenance strategies were seen to be associated with unwarranted expenditure on total road-user costs. This thesis makes a contribution to the state of knowledge through the development and synthesis of structural, functional and maintenance management aspects of haul road design. The adoption of these revised and improved haul road design methodologies are associated with potentially significant cost savings and operational improvements. AFRIKAANS: Ongeplaveide mynvervoerpaaie voorsien die primêre vervoer metode van materiaal in steenkoolstrookdagmyne. Met die uitbreiding van dagmynbou in Suid-Afrika en in besonder in die steenkoolstrookmynbou, het die gebruik van swaar vervoertrokke alledaags geword. Ontwerp en bestuur van hierdie paaie was hoofsaaldik gebaseer op plaaslike ondervinding en empiriese riglyne. Hierdie ontwerp metode het sy doel gedien in 'n tydperk waarin die trokke ligter en 'n kleiner finansiele uitleg nodig was, beide in tenne van inisiele plaveisel konstruksie kostes en voortdurende padonderhoudskostes en voertuig instanthoudingkostes. Soos wat die tendens van toename in trokgrootte voortduur, sal die huidige plaveisel ontwerp en bestuursstelsels onvoldoende wees. Nie aIleen sal die ondershoudskostes van bestaande paaie verhoog nie, maar voertuigbedryf en -instandhoudingkostes sal buitensporig word. Die primêre doel van die navorsing was die ontwikkeling van 'n oordraagbare en praktiese totale vervoerpadontwerp en bestuursmetodiek wat die plaveiselsterkte, slytlaag funksionele werkverrigting en padonderhoudbestuur komponente insluit. Die strukturele ontwerp behels die vermoe van 'n vervoerpad om die toegepaste las te kan dra sonder die noodsaaklikheid van buitensporige onderhoud. 'n Hersiene meganisties strukturele ontwerp word aangebied tesame met die geassosieerde ontwerpkriterium en aanbevole effektiewe elastisiteitsmoduluswaardes vir die beskikbare konstruksie materiaa1. Die plasing van daardie materiale as plaveisellae, om sodanig hulle werkverrigting te optimeer is, as beide individuele lae en oor die hele struktuur, geanaliseer. verrig, naamlik om 'n ekonomiese, veilige en voertuigvriendelike rit te voorsien. Die ontwikkeling en analise van geskikte materiaal seleksie is gekoppel aan die ontwikkeling van 'n kwalitatiewe defek waardebepaling en ranglys metodiek om die bruikbaarheid van vasgestelde prestasie-verwante seleksie riglyne te kan bepaal en as basis vir hersiene funksionele prestasie parameter spesiftkasies. 'n Hersiene reeks parameters is afgelei, gebaseer op padverbruiker aanvaarbaarheids kriterium. Deur analise van die tendens in die individuele defek ranglys, is die voorspelbaarheids vennoe van die spesifIkasies verhoog deur die uitwysing van tipiese funksionele defekte wat voorkom wanneer afgewyk word van aanbevole materiaal parameter beperkings. Die onderhoud aspek van vervoerpad ontwerp kan nie afsonderlik van die strukturele en funksionele ontwerp aspekte oorweeg word nie. Onderhoudontwerp behels die optimale frekwensie van slytlaag onderhoud eweredig aan die minimum. voertuigbedryf en padonderhoudskostes. 'n Kwalitatiewe pad ongelykheid evaluasie tegniek is ontwikkel as 'n voorloper tot die ontwikkeling van 'n ongelykheid progressie model. Uitdrukkings is ontwikkel om direkte vergelyking tussen ongelykheid defektelling en Internasionale ongelykbeids indeks (IRI) moontlik te maak. Die tweede element van 'n onderhouds bestuurstelsel is gebaseer op modele van die variasie van die voertuigbedryf en instandhoudingkoste en padongelykbeid. Die kombinasie van hierdie modelle stel die verbruiker in staat om die optimale onderhoudstrategie te soek. 'n Sub-optimale padonderhouds strategie was geassosieer met buitensporige besteding op totale padverbruikers koste. Hierdie proefskrif lewer 'n bydrae tot die staat van kennis deur die ontwikkeling en samevoeging van die strukturele, funksionele en onderhoud bestuurs aspekte van mynvervoerpadontwerp. Die ingebruikneming van die hersiene en verbeterde vervaerpad antwerp en bestuur metodiek het die potensiaal am beduidende koste besparings te verwesenlik. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

Bakgrund & Problem: Transport och distribution utgör grundläggande aktiviteter i ett transportföretag, såsom en 3PL-aktörs, verksamhet. I denna verksamhet är tunga transporter vanligt förekommande vilket utgör en betydande del av världens totala koldioxidutsläpp. Samtidigt som bränsleförbrukning står för en stor del av ett åkeris totala kostnader driver det även CO2-utsläpp i en redan, sett ur ett miljömässigt perspektiv, ansträngd värld. Att på sikt reducera dem globala CO2-utsläppen kommer kräva en omställning av transportsektorn och en övergång från fossila bränslen till mer förnyelsebara. För det enskilda åkeriet kan minskad bränsleförbrukning sänka kostnaderna samtidigt som det är fördelaktigt för miljön då det leder till minskade CO2-utsläpp. Vad driver då bränsleförbrukningen i ett åkeri? I denna studie ligger fokus främst på sparsam körning, transportplanering och teknologi som de faktorer som påverkar bränsleförbrukningen. I sammanhanget är även val av bränsle relevant men denna faktor har analyserats separat då det snarare är en faktor som driver CO2-utsläpp än bränsleförbrukningen i sig. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att studera ett urval av transportföretaget GDL:s åkerier och dess verksamhet med primärt fokus på bränsleförbrukning och CO2-utsläpp. Ambitionen vid arbetets slut är att kunna betygsätta åkeriernas verksamhet med utgångspunkt i deras bränsleförbrukning och de faktorer som driver den. Studien syftar även till att klargöra maktförhållandet mellan uppdragsgivare, som GDL, och åkerier. Metod: Studien tillämpar ett positivistiskt vetenskapligt synsätt med abduktion som angreppssätt. Baserat på de frågeställningar som studeras i detta arbete har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod applicerats överlag med små inslag av kvantitativa aspekter. Slutsats: De faktorer som huvudsakligen driver bränsleförbrukning är sparsam körning, transportplanering och teknologi. Sparsam körning är den faktor som denna studie bedömer ha störst påverkan och en fullständig implementering kan resultera i en bränslereduktion på 10-30 5(95) procent. Förutom mängden bränsle som förbrukas har även val av bränsle möjligheten att påverka företag positivt, främst miljömässigt men även ekonomiskt, där alternativa bränslen är huvudsakligt fokus. I denna studie hanteras bränslen som är förekommande inom studiens åkerier och bland dessa har HVO klart lägst CO2-utsläpp. Inflytandet från större aktörer, som GDL, är i nuläget svårt att precisera och varierar mellan åkerier. GDL:s position på marknaden borde, om så önskas, möjliggöra att ett större inflytande utövas gentemot de mindre aktörer som till stor del kör åt GDL. / Background & Problem: Transportation and distribution, such as 3PL, pose an essential part of a logistics company’s scope of duties; especially heavy transports, which account for a big part of the worldwide CO2-emissions, are an essential part of the business. Whilst fuel consumption makes up the majority of a company’s total consecutive expenses, it also augments carbon dioxide emission in our already flawed world. Therefore, the aim in the long run is a readjustment in the transport sector which includes the transition from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources as well as the reduction of fuel consumption in general. This is also in the interest of the distribution companies, as they thereby can save expenses and reduce their ecological footprint at the same time. Yet, what determines the fuel consumption of a distribution company? To decry that, this study will primarily focus on eco-driving, route planning as well as technology as the main drivers of fuel consumption. It hereby is necessary to consider the chosen kind of fuel as an important factor regarding the CO2-emissions; this, however, will be analyzed separately. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study a selection distribution companies that primarily work on behalf of GDL, to examine which factors drive fuel consumption and CO2 emissions 6(95) within these companies. This papers ambition is to fairly evaluate the distribution companies and grade them accordingly, based on factors that drive fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Additionally, this paper also aims to clarify the power structure between outsourcers, such as GDL, and their distributors. Method: This paper applies a positivistic scientific view with abduction as an approach. Based on this papers research questions it was determined that a qualitative research method should be applied throughout the study, with minor quantitative elements. Conclusions: The main factors for fuel consumption are parsimonious driving, route planning as well as technology. Hereby, frugal driving was ranked as the most important one as it can lead to a saving of 10-30 percent. Furthermore, the amount of used fuel can be positively influenced through the choice of certain fuel types. This has economical as well as ecological effects; the study focusses on renewable fuels, such as HVO, which has by far the lowest CO2- emissions amongst the fuels that were drawn into consideration. Influence by bigger actors, such as GDL, makes it hard to determine between different companies’ standings, as GDL’s position directly influences their smaller distributers.

No description available.

Autonomous driving might increase safety and profitability of trucks in many applications. The mining industry, with its enclosed and controlled areas, is ideal for early implementation of autonomous solutions. The possibility of increased productivity, profitability and safety for the mining industry and the mining area as a ground for development could, through collaboration, result in many benefits for both mining companies and truck manufactures. Scania must investigate how these autonomous vehicles should be constructed. The project goal is thereby to develop a chassis layout concept for an autonomous truck. The concept should improve profitability and safety for transportation of materials within the mining industry while minimizing the introduction of new components to Scania. The chosen approach is based on the Ulrich & Eppinger method for product development including generation and selection of concepts. Product requirements were specified from identified customer needs. The generated concepts were evaluated against these requirements and comparisons were performed with weighted matrices. Some benefits of the final chassis layout concept are a higher load carrying capacity, more robust component placement and higher ground clearance. The vehicle concept would also be able to operate in underground mines with low roof clearance which could open new market segments for Scania. However, the concept requires development to gain higher performance on load carrying components in the chassis front. The suggested concept shows that Scania could build and deliver autonomous mining vehicles with optimized chassis layouts based on Scania’s existing components within a near future. / Autonom körning kan öka säkerheten och lönsamheten för lastbilar i många applikationer. Gruvindustin, med dess avgränsade och kontrollerade områden, är ideal för tidig implementation av autonoma lösningar. Möjligheten till ökad produktivitet, lönsamhet och säkerhet med gruvindustrin och gruvområderna som plats för utveckling kan, genom samarbete, resultera i många fördelar för både gruvföretagen och lastbilstillverkarna. Scania måste därmed undersöka hur dessa autonoma fordon bör konstrueras. Projektmålet är därmed att ta fram ett koncept på en chassilayout för en autonom lastbil. Konceptet bör öka lönsamheten och säkerheten för transport av material inom gruvindustrin medan introduktionen av, för Scania, nya komponenter minimeras. Det valda angreppssättet är baserat på Ulrich & Eppingers metod för produktutveckling inkluderande generering och urval av koncept. Produktkraven specificerades utifrån de identifierade kundkraven. De framtagna koncepten utvärderades mot dessa krav och jämförelser genomfördes med viktade matriser. Några fördelar hos det slutgiltiga chassilayoutskonceptet är högre lastkapacitet, mer robust komponentplacering och högre markfri gång. Fordonskonceptet har även möjlighet att köra i underjordiska gruvor med låg takhöjd vilket kan öppna upp nya marknadssegment för Scania. Dock kräver konceptet utveckling för att nå högre prestanda hos lastbärande komponenter i främre chassi. Det föreslagna konceptet visar att Scania skulle kunna bygga och leverera autonoma gruvbilar med optimerad chassilayout baserat på Scanias existerande komponenter inom en snar framtid.

No description available.