Quest for efficiency in trucking continues

Fuel economy in vehicles can be improved in many ways, including increasing engine efficiency, reducing aerodynamic drag, rolling friction and improving the fuel quality, among other things.

The company's engineers have developed a new hypoid rear axle for the current Actros 2644LS/33 and Actros 2654LS/33 6x4 truck-tractors that were tested under everyday conditions along trial routes in the Eastern Cape.

Mercedes-Benz trucks combined the OM 502LA engine with its 540hp with the RT440 hypoid rear axle in the Actros 2654LS/33 which replaces the other airsuspended 2650LS/33. It now has a 3.583 rear axle ratio.

Christo Kleynhans, Mercedes-Benz trucks product manager, says: "The new RT440 hypoid rear axles make for the most fuel efficient Mercedes-Benz 6x4 truck tractors. In fact, the fuel saving achieved on the 2644LS/33 was 5.67% and on the 2654LS/33 was 5.37%."

It is an ongoing quest in which Mercedes-Benz trucks - as the first manufacturer to complete the launch of a full range of Euro 6-compliant trucks in Europe it continues to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in SA, too.

Kleynhans says that SA is well known for its unique operating conditions and trucking environment and makes for a testing ground suitable for a wide spectrum of applications. "Due to the outstanding track record of the Mercedes-Benz testing department, it was an obvious choice to call on their expertise to perform the comparative test between the new hypoid axles and the existing hub reduction rear axles," he says.

Independent testing along with thorough research also played a significant part in the company introducing yet another innovative offering in the form of its Telligent Maintenance System, which makes it possible for the trucks to inform operators and drivers when it is time for a service.

The first truck manufacturer to introduce this product in SA, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is changing the maintenance and servicing mentality in the country. Moving away from pre-set service intervals, this product makes individualised service intervals possible by taking its cue from the actual wear and tear on the vehicle.

The truck is designed to monitor the condition of the engine oil, transmission oil, axle oil and general service components such as air filters, fuel filters and brake pads, based on the operating conditions of the vehicle. This ensures optimum utilisation of operating fluids and service parts without risk to the service life or reliability of the engine and driveline. The Telligent Maintenance system stores information about faults, but only alerts drivers if they need to take action.

The 2013 State of Logistics Survey for SA, published by the Council for Scientific and Industry Research (CSIR), attributes increased logistics costs in the economy to be a factor of "a disproportionate growth in cost drivers - especially fuel". Logistics costs of R393bn in 2012 escalated to R423bn in 2013, and the CSIR forecasts this to rise further.

Telligent Maintenance tells the driver or truck owner exactly what needs to be serviced, and when. According to Mercedes-Benz, this leads to less time spent in the workshop and more time where the truck and driver are productive. Effective use of the system can realise a saving of up to 14% in service costs, says the company.

The company says that optimal results will be realised if used in conjunction with FleetBoard, its vehicle management and tracking system. Over an 18-month period from 2011 to 2013, the company says that Fleetboard registered combined savings of over R6m and uptime savings of 2,658 hours, in 658 cases.

The system provides impartial, comparable data from vehicles of a customer's fleet. It provides an overview of the mileage, operational status, consumption and deployment profiles of the drivers at one glance, including an evaluation of the overall driving styles. This will enable the fleet manager to determine the causes for high consumption and address them promptly to ensure correct deployment of truck, thus increasing the economic efficiency of the fleet.

From an environmental point of view, the system scores points for the manufacturer and the truck owner. Less frequent oil and filter changes equate to less of these items contributing to pollution.

For an Actros to qualify it needs to be activated on either the company's CharterWay BestBasic or CharterWay Service Complete contracts. However, cancellation of the CharterWay contract will result in the vehicle returning to fixed service intervals.

Source: Business Day