Kennedy Consulting
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Aerodynamic covered hoppers
Wind-tunnel-driven modifications to grain cars delivered a measured 4–6% fuel savings in real-world, high-mileage service at Union Pacific.
Track Record
Measured results, issued patents, published thinking.
Three decades of outcomes that moved the needle — the proof behind the work.
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Success Stories
Outcomes that moved the needle across North America's largest railroads.
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Fuel-conservation program
Built and led Union Pacific's first fuel-conservation group, a strategy credited with saving over $1B in fuel expense and a 12% reduction in fuel consumption.
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A wind tunnel no one else had
Brought a 50-foot subsonic open-loop wind tunnel into railroading — the only one of its kind — accelerating aerodynamic discovery tenfold.
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Patents
Six issued U.S. patents covering rail-car aerodynamics, drag reduction, and locomotive performance — the engineering behind millions in annual fuel savings.
US 11,613,280 B2
Mar 2023
Deflector for Vehicle
A collapsible aerodynamic deflector for retrofitting railcars and stacked containers to reduce drag at speed. Extends the aerodynamic program to a broader set of vehicle profiles, lowering fuel burn per mile.
View patent ↗
US 9,592,841 B2
Mar 2017
Cumulative Inertial Tractive Effort
A method for analyzing train performance by varying operating parameters — friction modifier, fuel type, aerodynamic fairings, and wind skirts. Lets railroads quantify, isolate, and validate the real-world fuel impact of each change.
View patent ↗
US 7,930,979
Apr 2011
Mounting of Drag-Reducing Devices for Stacked Intermodal Rail Cars
An attachment frame and fairing system for fitting drag-reducing devices to double-stacked intermodal containers. Made aerodynamic treatment practical to deploy across large intermodal fleets.
View patent ↗
US 7,784,409
Aug 2010
Drag-Reducing Devices for Stacked Intermodal Rail Cars
Aerodynamic fairings that close the turbulent gaps created by double-stacked containers. Reduces the drag penalty of intermodal service — one of rail's most fuel-intensive segments.
View patent ↗
US 11,459,000 B2
Oct 2022
Deflector for Use with Railcars and Containers
A deflector that retrofits railcars and intermodal containers to cut aerodynamic drag, collapsible for use with stacked containers. Broadens the drag-reduction toolkit across diverse equipment and loading configurations.
View patent ↗
US 6,233,149
2001
High-Power Inverter Air Cooling
An air-cooling design for high-power locomotive inverters. Improves thermal management of traction electronics, supporting reliable operation of modern AC-traction motive power.
View patent ↗
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Publications & Presentations
Published thinking — magazine features, technical papers, and journal articles on rail aerodynamics, lubrication, and fuel efficiency, plus the conferences where I'm sharing the latest.
Closing the Aerodynamics Gap
How the rail industry can harness a proven path to fuel savings — and why the time to act is now.
Railroads have committed to ambitious science-based emissions targets for 2030, yet fuel efficiency is improving only about 1% per year — a pace that leaves the industry well short of its goals. This feature lays out the case that aerodynamics is the proven, near-term lever railroads have been overlooking: wind-tunnel and field results showing 4–9% fuel savings on covered hoppers, refrigerated boxcars, and autoracks; retrofit hardware like the Corrugated Metals Aeroscreen and roof/side riders; and the lesson the trucking industry's SuperTruck program holds for rail.
By Wayne Kennedy
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Featured Work & Research
Articles, publications, and videos where my work has been featured.
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Aerodynamics · Fuel Conservation2018
It's All About Drag: Revolutionizing Railroad Fuel Conservation
Union Pacific feature and video — inside the aerodynamics laboratory where a mach 0.2 wind tunnel and a Brigham Young University partnership turned the "sleeping giant" of fuel conservation into 4–6% fuel savings on modified covered hopper rail cars.
Watch the video ↗ Read the Union Pacific article ↗
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Technical Papers & Presentations
LMOA papers and conference presentations on fuel conservation, aerodynamics, biofuels, GHG accounting, and lubrication.
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Presentation2025
Wheel Flange Lube Benefits
WRI Heavy Haul Seminar presentation with Rob Stevens (First Analytics) — solid-stick wheel-flange lubrication, revenue fuel savings, wheel-wear reduction, and fuel-savings analytics from Pueblo testing.
View presentation (PDF) ↗ Read the Interface Journal article ↗ -
Presentation2026
Fuel Conservation
ASLRRA presentation on practical fuel-conservation strategy for short line and regional railroads — industry SBTi progress, technology applications, and where the next gains lie.
View presentation (PDF) ↗ -
LMOA Paper2024
Analytical Approaches to Validating Railroad Fuel-Saving Technology
With Robert Stevens (First Analytics), Bret Lanz (Kansas State University) and Spencer Maynes (Deflect Inc). Statistical methods and design of experiments for proving locomotive fuel savings in the challenging 1–3% range amid real-world operating variability.
Download paper (DOCX) ↗ -
LMOA Paper2024
Railroad GHG Emissions Accounting with Biofuels
With Steve Fritz (Southwest Research Institute), Veronica Bradley (Clean Fuels Alliance America), Sarah Elsokkary (Arcadis) and Rajani Modiyani (Chevron REG). Approaches, challenges, and the case for a common GHG accounting methodology as Class I railroads scale biofuel use toward their SBTi goals.
Download paper (DOCX) ↗ -
LMOA Paper2023
Reducing GHG Emissions Through Aerodynamics on North American Railroads
With Bhargav Sowmianarayanan (Dassault Systèmes) and Gregory Wright (Wabtec). Simple in-field aerodynamic modifications to covered hoppers, autoracks, and boxcars — measured with CFD, wind-tunnel, and full-scale testing — and the lesson trucking's SuperTruck program holds for rail.
Download paper (DOCX) ↗ -
LMOA Paper2022
GHG Emissions Reduction for North American Railroads
With Steven G. Fritz and Christopher R. Stoos (Southwest Research Institute). An overview of fuel-consumption trends, efficiency technologies, and low-carbon options — from engine and train-level gains to battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell locomotives — against SBTi targets.
Download paper (DOCX) ↗