Mack economy good for fleet owner

Refrigerated transport company enjoys savings at the bowser

Since equipping their fleet with Mack Super-Liners and Tridents, the owners of S&G Transport, specialists in national refrigerated haulage, say they have experienced a significant improvement in fuel economy.

"We were running another brand of trucks all equipped with EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) emission control technology," says Managing Director Glen Rollinson. "And we were only getting 1.3 to 1.4 kilometres-per-litre out of them."

With fuel prices sitting at $1.35/litre, this rate of consumption was a major drain on the company, so Glen and his Business Partner Steve Vayanos looked for some alternatives.

“We were looking to get our mileage back to the levels we had before emissions controls were introduced,” says Steve. "And the figures the Macks were getting looked pretty good."

In 2013, S&G bought a Mack Trident featuring a 535hp MP8 engine with mDRIVE automated manual transmission. The Trident went so well they bought five more, followed by no less than 21 Mack Super-Liners, bring their Mack fleet up to 26 trucks in 2016.

"The SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) engines in the Macks give us the fuel economy we were after," says Glen. "On a bad day we’re getting 1.7 km/litre, and on a good day we’ll get 1.9 km/litre on the B-Doubles and 2-2.5 km/litre on the singles. There’s no question the Macks have made a big difference."

The owners said that a change from 1.4 to 1.8km/litre might not sound like much, but when you run it across a fleet of 26 Macks, the multiplier effect is impressive.

"That’s a significant saving per truck," says Steve Vayanos. "With our trucks are averaging 5,000km a week, it has a direct effect on the bottom line, even with fuel down to around a dollar a litre.”

Glen and Steve use Mack’s telematics system to track their trucks and how their drivers are using them.

"Mack Telematics is a brilliant tool," says Glen. "It gives us real-time feedback on things like fuel consumption, idle time, whether the truck is in performance mode, whether the driver’s using the mDRIVE or changing gears manually. By reviewing and comparing all of that information we can get a clear picture of how individual driving behaviours affect fuel consumption."

What makes Glen and Steve happy though, is that the Macks have achieved their goal.

"There’s no question these fuel figures are good," says Glen. "The Macks have put us where we wanted to be, which is back to the sort of fuel consumption we had before emission controls came in. That’s a win in anyone’s language."

Mack economy good for fleet owner

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