NEWS FTA FLEET ENGINEER BRIEFING 2019
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18 TRUCKING August 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.ukSchmitz Cargobull’s Steve Vincent
underlined the importance of
careful trailer spec’ingcar engine which requires just oil and
filter changes.
An EV operating in London saves the
driver around 1500 gearshifts per day,
and regenerative braking means that
once the driver has mastered it, he
brakes only when the vehicle is required
to stop completely. As a result, brake
wear is greatly reduced compared with
diesel LGVs.Future of diesel
For over a decade, no transport
conference has been complete without
discussion on this subject. Some
technical clarity is at last beginning to
emerge: James Spencer from industry
forecaster Portland Fuels stated
production of crude had increased every
year since 2014, and that the predicted
mass closures of oil refineries had not
occurred: “On the contrary, the oil majors
are quietly investing in their refining
capacity to meet global demand,
particularly from marine shipping.”
He claimed ‘peak oil’ would not be
reached until 2030. “VW has killed diesel
cars with its lies,” he asserted, “and
petrol cars will have a short-term boost
because the grid will not cope with a
sudden switch to electric.”
For HGV long-haul, he said batteries
were too heavy; so combustion (diesel or
gas) will be needed for as far as anyone
can see. That said, in a Europe obsessed
with ‘carbon’ (carbon dioxide), transport- although far from the greatest
generator – remained an easy target for
politicians for whom tackling industrial
emissions was too complex and aircraft
emissions too electorally risky.
To meet legislation, road transport
would have to continue to show CO 2
improvements and the only feasible
options were more widespread use of
gas and biodiesel. The advantages were
that existing diesels will run on all
these with only minor modification, and
there were no huge infrastructure
implications (as there are with electric
charging). AdBlue demand would
increase though, and a wholesale use of
winter fuel additives might be required.
One of the UK’s largest hauliers,
Wincanton, has a complex delivery
network and sustainability head Steve
Tainton explained customers such as
Sainsbury’s looked to their suppliers to
show ‘green’ credentials – as indeed did
investors. “Theoretically, we should be
able to find contracts where we could
use an alternative fuel.” (In fact, the
John Lewis Partnership, which runs its
own fleet, already has.)
But non-fossil fuels were very limited
in availability, went on Mr Tainton,
citing HVO (hydrogen-treated vegetable
oil) as a bio-product compatible with
diesel engines. “Even if you can get
supply and there are no refineries in the
UK, it still works out 8-15 per cent more
expensive than diesel. So with a four
per cent margin, commercially it won’t
work unless the customer is prepared to
subsidise the cost.”
In the long term, he saw a mix of
fuels: CNG, LNG, biofuels, and diesel.
Behind the scenes, the OEMs are
continuing to develop diesel engines.
Volvo is not alone in offering an
EGR-powered turbine which adds
torque and increases mpg by four
per cent.Upholding the law
From the DVSA, enforcement manager
David Wood said that henceforth his
compliance officers had access to all
10,000 ANPR cameras nationally – an
improvement on the 36 they previously
had to rely on. This announcement
brought gasps from members of the
audience, who wondered why such an
obvious decision had taken so long, and
once again pondered absence of joined-
up thinking in parts of the public sector.
Mr Wood emphasised the advantage
this change would have for hauliers
because once the DVSA had digested all
the new data generated, it would mean
Operator Compliance Risk Scores (OCRS)
would become more accurate and more
targeted. With access to all vehicle
databases, stops would also be far more
quickly dealt with.
He also showed new weighbridge
check equipment whose electronics
could identify individually overloaded
axles as well as gauging all tyre and
tread conditions (which is not always
possible visually).
On the subject of tachograph
manipulation, Mr Wood said fraudsters
had become cleverer since the first wave
of crude bypass wiring his colleagues
often encountered – and with the
sophisticated systems of Euro 6, frauds
often manifest themselves in illicit
reprogramming. Again, access to all
ANPR databases meant recidivists could
be tracked and identified.
The department was also trialling
roadside use of OBD: “We plug this in and
can see whether any of the truck’s
systems have been interfered with. Also it
will tell us if a warning light is showing,
and how long it has been on. That
immediately counters the stock ‘Oh, it
only came on this morning’ reply we get
from drivers when they are stopped.” ■For HGV long-haul,
batteries were too heavy;
so combustion (diesel or
gas) will be needed for as
far as anyone can see.