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The right revs

1st January 1998, Page 10
1st January 1998
Page 10
Page 10, 1st January 1998 — The right revs
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

for the job...

Progress in design has led to a difference in the way trucks should be driven. Iveco has taken a detailed look at the modern art of driving.

by Dan Gilkes • Few drivers who piloted the Gardner-powered Fodens and Leylands of a couple of decades ago would have dreamt of the smooth, quiet and—most importantly—powerful trucks of today.

Can we therefore expect drivers to be able to jump from one make to another, from a 320hp engine to a 520hp, without any additional training? The answer is of course no; however good you are there is always room for improvement. That is no criticism of today's drivers. Gaining the best from a 380hp EuroTech requires a different approach to realising top fuel economy from a 470hp EuroStar.

Because of this. Iveco has introduced the concept of dealer demo consultants within many of its European distributor chains. UK arm Iveco Ford Truck has readily accepted the concept.

The demo consultants are picked from existing dealer staff, either from sales or work shop. The idea is that they undergo regular training and updating on Iveco Ford products, which they can then use to assist customers and train drivers, and of course to sell trucks.

The initial response provided 32 demo consultants from the IFT dealer network. Under the co-ordination of IFT's demonstration consultant Alan Campbell, who has been trained in Italy, they split into two groups for a three-day introductory course. This included theory sessions to look at the full range of machinery in Iveco's heavy product line. It also trained the demo consultants in tact and diplomacy, which are always important when telling drivers how to improve their performance!

They then moved to the practical side of things, undergoing a road test in a collection of 380 and 470hp EuroStars. Each consultant went around a 38-mile set route, on single and dual carriageway, starting at the Poplar 2000 truckstop at Lymm in Cheshire. They were told to try for fuel economy but no other training was given.

Admittedly many of the dealer consultants are infrequent truck drivers, but the sense

of competition between them to achieve good results was high. Most were disappointed therefore to find that they averaged only 6.5-6.7mpg.

Tony Bobs, demo consultant for Chesterbased ()nicks Trucks, said: "It was a bit of a shock to be honest. I thought I'd be around 7-7.5."

They then took the test again, but this time Iveco Ford's trainers told them what to do, when to change gear, how many revs to use, even when to brake. When they returned from the second run the average fuel consumption, between 32 different drivers, was 8.4-8.7mpg.

Campbell said: "They were absolutely astounded. All of them were good drivers, but they just hadn't been used to driving for economy."

He made it clear though that there is a difference even between driving the 380 EuroStar and its bigger brother the 470. Because of the difference in power and torque characteristics gear change intervals will change and your driving style has to be adapted to suit.

With that in mind the demo consultants will continue to be trained and monitored by Iveco Ford to keep them fresh on the current line-up as new products come on line.

Spin-offs

How the consultants reconcile this additional workload within their host dealerships is not yet totally clear, and it will vary between dealerships. Bobs said: "Without doubt it's a very extensive programme. But there are a lot of spinoffs. You get to know people from other dealers." This is being encouraged by IFT, as the demo consultants will be able to build a database of information between them which each will be able to access.

The idea is that each consultant should have a set test route near their own dealership. They will take each truck sold around the route to get an idea of fuel consumption and performance. If customers have problems with fuel consumption they can simply take the truck around the route to see if it is performing correctly, or if the problem is one of driver training.

It is hoped that the initial trip around the route will be incorporated into the truck handover procedure. It is much easier to get the driving right from the start, than to go into the firm a month later and retrain.

So what exactly does the onroad training involve?


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