Road Relay could cut your costs
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• by Toby Clark ERF's fleet management service has grown from its relationship with Cummins, whose electronically controlled Celect engines have long been available with the Road Relay driver information system. This allows engine, driveline and other data to be downloaded to a PC; it proved its worth during ERF's successful Fuel Duel promotion.
Now Road Relay 4 comes as standard on the ECX, but it is not always used to its full potential. 'The feedback we were getting was that lit's a good piece of equipment but we can't use it'," says Richard Mailer, in charge of ERF's Fleet Management Centre.
He explains that the centre's role is "using existing infrastructure—but it's using it better". The primary function is what Marler calls "profitability through fuel management"— making the most of your vehicles and drivers by providing relevant, measurable feedback.
The service provides feedback in the form of a monthly report containing data on fuel consumption and driveline use (see box). Marler expects any truck's fuel consumption to improve during the first few months of its life as it is run-in and the driver gets more familiar with it.
But eventually it should reach its optimum fuel economy; he explains: "It's our job to make sure the operator reaches that point as soon as possible". ERF's in-house driver trainer could be despatched to help, or operators could Gall in the trainers attached to 17 ERF distributors.
The service goes beyond reports and recommendations: the GSM/Road Relay combination can work in two ways, to allow ERF to recalibrate engines if necessary. 'We're taking from the bureau information that can help us fine-tune the vehicle," says Marler. A standard M11 engine can be reprogrammed remotely to give any power rating from 305 to 405hp, using only the GSM link (the 440hp version of the M11 uses some different hardware). Mailer even cites the case of one fleet where the engines were secretly downrated from 380hp to 340hp; he says there was no significant complaint from the drivers.
The scheme has been operating for six months now; about 800 vehicles are being monitored at the moment. Marler expects this number to exceed 1,000 by the end of this month, and with the low cost of the service that doesn't sound overambitious.
But what's in it for ERF? The firm's director of after-market services, Brian Perrins, says: "As trucks become better and more consistent it's the support services that set you apart." Even ERF's parent MAN cannot boast a comparable system.
But the real gains will come in the longer term—Marler makes the point that all the information that the system gathers is available for ERF to use in specifying and designing the next generation of vehicles. "We're in a better position than most to benchmark," he adds.