Engen Petroleum, the country’s leading marketer of petroleum products and convenience, has again taken the sponsorship of the annual FOCUS on Transport Truck Test, which runs from April 15 to 17 this year.

Best-in-class
As with the first Truck Test in 2012, this year’s event is all about finding best-in-class fuel efficiency in a diverse field brimming with excellent contenders. It is also expected to provide high-value input into truck and fuel engineering and operations. Lindsay Bassett, key accounts manager of commercial fuels at Engen, says as a major supplier of fuels and lubricants to the transport sector in southern Africa, Engen is proud to be associated with such an important event. FOCUS on Transport magazine editor Charleen Clarke explains that the event is not run as a competition, but as a demonstration of how fuel economy has developed in recent times. “Fuel consumption, trip times and productivity will be monitored again this year, and we will also be given an indication of the vehicles’ trailer towing capability,” she says.

Urban warriors
Whereas the 2012 event fielded extra-heavy (6x4-wheel) prime movers in a return trip from Johannesburg to Durban, this year’s test will feature 4x2-wheel freight carriers with a legal carrying capacity of eight tonnes. Hellberg Transport Management (HTM) will compile and provide the results for each vehicle as well as simulating their runs on its TransSolve simulation software. This will provide a comparison of what the trucks are capable of under ideal circumstances and what they achieved in the real world.
HTM, event coordinator, Fritz Hellberg says eight-tonne vehicles typically run short, local distribution routes. “They are frequently loaded and unloaded and driven between and around cities, so they encounter a variety of traffic and road conditions each day.” FOCUS and Hellberg have secured the use of the Gerotek testing facility outside Pretoria, with a view to replicating urban conditions as closely as possible for the three-day test. The performance of fifteen trucks will be measured on a course that replicates inner city driving conditions

Three days, multiple tests
The first day will consist of a predetermined course at the facility’s Ride and Handling Track. Vehicles will start the day at Engen Umfula One Stop, Hartebeespoort, and drive the 34 km to Gerotek. Each vehicle will be required to make numerous fully laden passes round the circuit, before returning to Engen Umfula One Stop– a total distance of roughly 86 km, Hellberg says. The second and third days will require vehicles to depart from Engen Umfula One Stopto make the roughly 243 km journey to Swartruggens and back; one day fully laden, the other empty. The two open-road runs to Swartruggens and back will simulate the laden and unladen driving that is seen in a typical delivery scenario.

Eagerly anticipated
Clarke says the results are eagerly anticipated. "Remember that we are testing trucks under real-life operating conditions, independently and without bias. This is very significant – operators can make educated and informed buying decisions, and they can save a small fortune as a result." Excitement is building as the date approaches. The eight-tonne market segment is very competitive, with manufacturers from China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and Sweden all offering their best trucks in the class, and truck operators will be keeping their eyes peeled for the results.