Mercedes-Benz consistently pushes the limits of contemporary research and development capabilities, striving to create more cost-efficient vehicles and systems to the benefit of customers and operators. Its new hypoid axles and ‘intelligent’ systems have truly brought the future to the present.

Two Mercedes-Benz Actros 6×4 truck-tractors, fitted standard with the latest Mercedes-Benz RT440 hypoid rear axles, have achieved significant fuel savings of more than 5% in test runs in the Eastern Cape. There are numerous ways to improve fuel economy in vehicles, including increasing engine efficiency, reducing aerodynamic drag and rolling friction, and improving the fuel quality among other things.

Mercedes-Benz engineers have developed a new hypoid rear axle for the current Actros 2644LS/33 and Actros 2654LS/33 6×4 truck-tractors that were tested under everyday conditions along Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s (MBSA) well-known trial routes in the Eastern Cape.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks combined the 540 hp OM 502LA engine with the RT440 hypoid rear axle in the Actros 2654LS/33, which replaces the other air-suspended 2650LS/33. It now has a 3.583 rear-axle ratio. Christo Kleynhans, MBSA trucks product manager, says: “The new RT440 hypoid rear axles make for the most fuel-efficient Mercedes-Benz 6×4 truck tractors. In fact, the fuel saving achieved was 5.67% on the 2644LS/33 and 5.37% on the 2654LS/33.”

It is an ongoing quest in which Mercedes-Benz Trucks – the first manufacturer to complete the launch of a full range of Euro VI-compliant trucks in Europe – continues to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in South Africa. Kleynhans points out that South Africa is well known for
its unique operating conditions and the trucking environment, which is spread across fleets ranging from exceptional to those in dire need of help, 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 its expertise to perform the comparative test between the new hypoid axles and the existing hub reduction rear axles,” elaborates Kleynhans. Independent testing, along with thorough research, also played a significant part in Mercedes-Benz introducing yet another innovative offering in the form of the TelligentMaintenance 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 South Africa, Mercedes-Benz Trucks (a Daimler Truck and Buses brand) is changing the maintenance and servicing mentality in the country. Moving away from preset 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.

Telligent Maintenance lowers total cost of ownership. The 2013 State of Logistics Survey for South Africa, published by the CSIR, attributes increased logistics costs in the economy to be a factor of “a disproportionate growth in cost drivers – especially fuel”. Logistics costs of R393
billion in 2012 escalated to R423 billion in 2013, and the CSIR forecasted this to stand at R456 billion in 2014. Telligent Maintenance tells the driver or truck owner exactly what needs to be serviced, and when.

This leads to less time spent in the workshop, and more time where the truck and driver are productive. Effective usage of the system can realise a saving of up to 14% in service costs. Optimal results will be realised if used in conjunction with FleetBoard – the benchmark vehicle management and tracking system provided by MBSA. Over an 18-month period from 2011 to 2013, Fleetboard registered combined savings of over R6 million and uptime savings of 2 658 hours, in 658 cases.

FleetBoard provides impartial, comparable data from all vehicles of a customer’s fleet. The system 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 promptly address them to ensure correct deployment of trucks,thus increasing the economic efficiency of the fleet.

From an environmental point of view, the Telligent Maintenance System also scores brownie 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 for this unique value offering, it simply needs to be activated on either the CharterWay BestBasic or CharterWay ServiceComplete contracts available at the nearest dealership. However, cancellation of the CharterWay contract will result in the vehicle returning to fixed service intervals. Although this offer applies to vehicles sold with effect from 1 May 2014, trucks sold prior to May 2014 on a CharterWay contract are eligible to be converted to a Telligent Maintenance contract backdated to 1 January 2014. Mercedes-Benz Trucks is a

Mercedes-Benz Trucks is a technological pioneer in the South African transport industry. Its cost-effective trucks and holistic fleet management and maintenance systems provide local operators with world-class equipment and administrative capabilities that offer a distinct edge over their competitors.

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