Every time you hear a deep rumble and feel your house shake when a big truck roars by, that’s partly because the weight of heavy vehicles causes a slight deflection in the road surface under them. It’s enough of a dip to make a difference to the trucks’ overall fuel efficiency. Now, a theoretical study by MIT researchers suggests that small changes in roadway paving practices could reduce that efficiency loss, potentially eliminating a half-percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, at little to no cost….
