Transporters look forward to a smooth ride with slew of innovative solutions

No one envies the life of a truck driver. The long hours of bumpy ride, hardships in handling a heavy vehicle and safety issues make his job downright difficult. And transporters too have to manage high operating and maintenance costs and worry about driver and vehicle safety.

The good news is that technological innovations are helping ease many of these issues, going by the discussions at the Transporters’ Meet held on August 29at Namakkal. The event was organised by BusinessLine in association with The Hindu Tamil with IOCL as the title sponsor and powered by Ashok Leyland. The event attracted many transporters who voiced their issues and took the opportunity to interact with the suppliers on beneficial product features.

Take the case of engine oil. Commercial vehicles account for 62 per cent of the automotive engine oil market, says H Karnan, Manager, Lube – Retail Sales, Trichy Divisional Office, IOCL. And the Fortune 500 oil major is focusing on innovation in this segment. The company, which features 500 varieties of lube oil and greases, has a modern research facility in Faridabad. The centre does research in areas such as lubricants, fuel additives, engine testing and environmental sciences. It holds 304 active patents, including 162 international patents.

So, how does the research translate into tangible value for transporters? The company - which sells in 25 countries, including South Africa, Sri Lanka – has developed an engine oil called Servo Pride ALT Plus 15W40. This meets the API specification of CI4 Plus and when used for long haul, an oil change is required every 80,000 kilometres. The company’s other Servo brand oils offer good performance and save costs for vehicle owners, notes Karnan.

Commercial vehicle and driver safety are also set to improve thanks to regulatory push and innovations from manufacturers such as Ashok Leyland. New regulatory standards come into effect in October. Also, the new truck code that includes a comprehensive set of safety features for the drivers and Bharat Stage – IV (BS-4) emission standards will be implemented in the next 24 months.

Vehicle makers are also adding features to meet customer demand for safety features. “Driver comfort, high mileage and good resale value are what customers look for”, says N Saravanan. Senior Vice-President. Product Development, Ashok Leyland.

But, is it possible to satisfy the regulatory requirements and customer demand? This is where innovative solutions come in. Take the case of being BS-4 compliant. There are many competing technologies to achieve this. One is Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) which helps reduce NOx emission by 80-85 per cent. The other is Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) that has advantages such as lower operating cost. Saravanan says the company is looking at both options to enable the customers get the best solution for their application.

Ashok Leyland has also introduced automated manual transmission system to save fuel and reduce clutch wear and tear. Additionally, drivers also get a lot of comfort features in the company’s cabbed vehicles. Its telematics features cover critical parameters such as engine temperature and fuel level to give early alerts on potential failures.

To save fuel in unloaded conditions, the company offers two key features. One is dual dataset in which the engine power is cut down when the vehicle is without load. There is a 70 per cent power reduction achieved with a flip of a switch - saving precious fuel. Two, lift axle feature helps increase fuel efficiency by 3-5 per cent and also extends tyre life by 20-35 per cent.

IOCL offers many customer-friendly choices to reduce cost through its Servo brand, says Karnan. For instance, the company offers a fleet card with loyalty rewards for customers. One can earn additional points during specific periods such as monsoon season or by purchasing at specific outlets. One can also make use of bulk purchase discounts by buying oil at transporters association shops that purchase in barrels and sell in retail sizes.

While there are certainly improvements and support from suppliers, their path continues to be bumpy, say transporters.

“The road infrastructure development is not great; about 57 per cent of the roads are not well maintained”, says K Nallathambi, President, State Lorry Owners’ Federation, Tamil Nadu. Peer Mohammed, President, Pondicherry Goods Transporters’ Association added that over-loading of vehicles is a serious safety issue, exasperated by the fact that drivers have little or no control on what the vehicle carries.

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