BOWING IN AT BTAC
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The BTAC fuel economy trials generally attract some interesting technical innovations; this year the emphasis was more on new vehicles, and the event also indicated the latest trends in the brewery fleets.
• In recent years major technical innovadon have been a highlight of the annual Brewery Transport Advisory Committee trials, held at the Motor Industry Research Association proving grounds near Nuneaton. There was less innovation this year, but there were a number of newly launched trucks.
Making their BTAC debuts were the Volvo FL 10 1ntercooler 320, the new Seddon Atkinson Strato E350, the MAN 8.150 and the ERF E10 1ntercooled 325. Other new BTAC entrants included two examples of Scania's 3 Series and Seddon Atkinson's drop-frame 2-11.
DEMISE
Following the demise of the Bedford TL urban artic, many brewery companies have been seeking its successor.
Bass, the largest user of this type of vehicle, has led the field in finding that replacement. The BTAC trials reflected the two aspects of this programme: the Reliance-converted Freighters, running at 19.6 tonnes GCW, and the Volvo FL6-11 for operation at 16.26 tonnes GCW.
The Reliance Freigh ter conversion is based on a 13.16 4x2 rigid, shortened to suit its new tractor role. Air suspension is provided at the rear and Reliance has flitched the chassis around the fifth-wheel.
The electrics have been converted from 12 to 24 volts by Halifax specialists Feather Diesel Services. Only the instruments are left on their own 12V circuit.
The Volvo FL6-11 urban artic debuted at BTAC last year in prototype form. This year the first production model competed in Bass colours. Its sophisticated specification includes air suspension and disc brakes, which impressed drivers at BTAC with their low pedal effort and effective retardation, especially in the multi-stop section of the trial.
LUBRICATING
The right lubricating oil obviously affects a vehicle's overall performance, and if this year's BTAC entrants are representative of current brewery thinking, premium mineral oils are still more popular than synthetics.
The only synthetic oil in use at BTAC was Mobil Delvac, which was (not surprisingly) used in the Mobil tanker entries, but also in the class-winning Tennents Caledonian Breweries' FL6-16. Most popular among the other entries was Castrol Dynarnax for engines and Castro! Dynadrive for gearboxes.
Smaller oil companies have made inroads into the big brewery fleets, however. Taunton Cider, for example, was using Ashford 15W/30 engine oil and Dalton EP90 transmission oil, as was the Showering's Seddon Atkinson 2-11.
In previous years energy-saving tyres, such as Continental EOTs, have been virtually universal — but there was a much greater variety on show this year.
Air management, ranging from simple cab-top deflectors to full systems, was much in evidence. The Volvo, Scania and ERF tractors were particularly wellequipped in this respect.
The highest payload achieved by an operator's vehicle was the 26,690kg offered by the Whitbread Cargo 3828 tractor coupled to a new lightweight Don-Bur semi-trailer.
This new trailer design, complete with additional internal bulkhead, weighed only 5,540kg, which is particularly impressive for an air-suspended tri-axle trailer.