Bauer's Carbon Reduction Initiatives

Roughly one-third of CO₂ emissions in the U.S. currently comes from the transportation industry. Lowering those emissions involves building an eco-friendly fleet of vehicles and creating a corporate culture in which "going green" is on the same level as professional, courteous service and dependability. With 120 eco-friendly vehicles in its fleet and more to be added in the coming months, Bauer's leads the private transportation industry in its use of alternative fuels, innovative training programs and implementing new technologies.

Using green technology

Bauer's uses clean burning Series 60 engines that use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology and diesel particulates filters to fully meet all EPA emission requirements, which call for a 90% reduction in particulate matter and a more than 50% reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx). EGR technology works by circulating cooled exhaust gas back into the engine air intake, lowering combustion temperatures and thus reducing the formation of NOx.

Bauer's is unique in that fully 96% of all the company's miles traveled are green miles, making Bauer's the largest private green fleet of vehicles on the road today, meeting the most stringent air quality standards developed by the California Air Resources Board to be put into effect in 2013.

The Bauer's fleet include vehicles like the Dodge Sprinter shuttle buses which can operate 10,000 miles between service oil changes and 60,000 miles before an engine and transmission service, making it a highly efficient vehicle to operate. The Dodge Sprinter emits 56% less CO₂ per vehicle mile than a cutaway vehicle powered by a Ford 6.0L diesel engine and 53% less CO₂ per vehicle mile than a cutaway powered by a Ford 6.8L gasoline engine.

The MCI buses which feature the modern ZF Astronic transmission. This is a 12-speed manual transmission that acts like an automatic model. Only 10 of the gears are used in bus applications and the transmission decided which to employ. Using this highly advanced computer technologies allows the load, speed and road conditions to be analyzed, and then allowing the transmission to decide which is appropriate "shifting." Fuel economy tests show a more than 6% increase in fuel and 185,000 miles before oil changing thus reducing internal drag in the transmission.

Chauffeur training

Beyond a new fleet, Bauer’s leads the industry with chauffeur training focused specifically to teach chauffeurs how to conserve fuel as they drive, because manner in which a coach is operated greatly impacts fuel usage. With the Bauer’s GPS speed monitoring system, it is easy to monitor and sustain speeds that are conducive to the most efficient fuel impact.

Bauer’s also teaches chauffeurs about the impact of idling. Unnecessary engine idling, which wastes fuel and creates unnecessary pollution, flags the Bauer’s dispatch, creating an opportunity to council the chauffeur to modify the situation. If Bauer’s experiences chauffeurs violating the Bauer’s standards of eco-efforts too often, those drivers are required to retake the Bauer’s training program.