How to calculate savings of using a tug to move railcars and semi-trailers?

To evaluate the purchase of a V-Move tug, you look at payback or ROI. Calculate the cost of a fully-loaded per mile or per hour rate to operate a locomotive or semi-tractor truck to move the loads versus the cost to operate a V-Move tug. You should add the capital cost of your routed locomotive or semi-tractor as a depreciation rate per hour or mile to your operating cost as well since it consumes from the life of your asset. The V-Move asset will be an added cost of capital and is evaluated in the payback calculation and not added to the cost of operating a V-Move tug. The difference in costs per year between the two alternatives divided into the added capital cost of a V-Move tug results in your simple payback value in years. Anything less than 4-years is reasonable.

When you calculate your annual cost to operate the locomotive or semi-truck, consider the cost of your professional driver with benefits, repair costs, fuel costs, insurance, and allocated overhead costs (such as required daily vehicle inspections) to name a few. Then there are the savings to calculate from emissions and your lower overall carbon footprint of using a V-Move walk-along tug versus a locomotive or semi-truck or even versus an electric semi-truck or electric railcar mover.

Generally, Xerowaste customers will see less than a year or two payback when using a V-Move tug versus using a locomotive or semi-tractor truck. Contact us and we can provide you a spreadsheet to use to calculate the rough payback.