Before I start, I'm posting to dip my toe in the water!
On Tuesday I'm out driving a lorry all day to conduct some test on fuel efficient driving and the information gained from the telematics system.
My mission on the outward journey is to 'drive it like you stole it' and on the way back to 'do as I tell you'.
One test we want to do is to time a run of 20 miles, mixed single and dual carriageways and compare the difference in time taken driving like a loony and driving 'properly.
I'm quite happy to record some facts and figures on here on Wednesday if anyone is interested, but if not then it will save me some time downloading and printing off the figures.
So please feel free to tell me to go away politely, I really won't mind! On the other hand we could have some guesses at how quicker it is to drive like a loony over 20 miles and also the optimum mpg is 8.3mpg, so how much will I improve that 'doing as I'm told'?
Pat
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>> So please feel free to tell me to go away politely, I really won't mind!
>> On the other hand we could have some guesses at how quicker it is to
>> drive like a loony over 20 miles and also the optimum mpg is 8.3mpg, so
>> how much will I improve that 'doing as I'm told'?
>>
>> Pat
Yeah go for it, I hope by the way that the two comparisons are done fairly. IE similar traffic conditions.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 16 Jan 15 at 16:19
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I won't know the full details until Monday. If there is a vehicle spare we're off empty to Kings Lynn driving like a loony and back loaded doing as I'm told.
If we're busy we'll just get lumbered with delivering a load to Thurrock or Rugby or something.
It will record :
Average MPG
Idling time
Engine overspeed
Driving outside of optimum speed band
Brake applications
Harsh brake applications
Harsh accelerations
Coasting
Driving with any warning light on
Engine running time
Total mpg idling
Average weight
Distance on cruise control
Seat belt not worn
and Fuel intake.
It then comes up with a score taking weight into account.
Keep off the A47 Z:)
Pat
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AH! A route I know well - probably do that section once a month. Assuming you are going round the large rabbit infested roundabout outside KL as your turning point.
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>> AH! A route I know well - probably do that section once a month. Assuming
>> you are going round the large rabbit infested roundabout outside KL as your turning point.
Ah you said you would be loading.
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Yes, then down the A10 to West Winch to load.
Pat
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It will add to the DIY or cruise control discussion. Personally I don't care which is more economical, I use what is appropriate for the road, traffic, and weather conditions.
Will your experiment include CC (or a brick on the go pedal) ?
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Yes, both!
The CC will be scary for me because I'm not comfortable using it at all and I will have to use it on all types of road whenever possible.
I have also never worn a seat belt in a lorry either....I can't reach the tacho or sun visor with one on, but that will bring my score down too.
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I'm sorry I won't be a passenger when you're driving like a loony Pat. Naturally you will be freewheeling down anything resembling a decent incline to get well above that mimsing 56mph?
Remember those smart, but heavy, Tate&Lyle navy blue sugar tankers? Sometimes they had a matching trailer.
Got a lift in one, in East Anglia, back in my hitching days. With trailer, the driver would freewheel down the hills into all those small towns and villages to build up as much momentum as possible up the other side. Hitting about 70 in the dip of one or two of those sleepy village main streets.
I was most impressed, while pondering compulsively on the forces involved were anything pear-shaped to start occurring at the wrong moment.
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I'dbe really interested in your results - I like nerdy stuff like that :-)
I reckon on your eco run you will be 20% more efficient
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Have I missed something?
You are driving one way empty and the other way loaded and you are hoping for a comparison?
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Interesting, but is it a true comparison doing one way empty and the other loaded?
Would the wind speed and direction also have an effect on results?
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Jiggery Pokery will allow for the load - computers are good at this. Even trains use telematics these days, supposedly to aid efficiency and keep them on time.
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>> Jiggery Pokery will allow for the load - computers are good at this. Even trains
>> use telematics these days, supposedly to aid efficiency and keep them on time.
>>
Indeed and pat will end up with a jiggery pokery score for each journey.
However she asked us to guess the speed fuel consumption and we can't jiggery poke.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 16 Jan 15 at 21:32
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The computer measures the average weight of the journey and/or complete day but if we get the Kings Lynn shunt we're hoping to do three trips and reverse the driving style on the second one.
Ok, I'll download as much data as I can at the end of the day and bring a copy home with me!
Pat
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Our firm has adopted telematics as its new religion. Drivers encouraged to keep "constant speed",use cruise control as much as possible and downhill gradients to coast yet zero tolerance of overspeeding; the result being that to successfully achieve this, in an area with the topography of Wales we're going everywhere on SC NSL roads at 37 mph. This causes queues behind us and encourages riskier overtaking from impatient car drivers; it's all very well saying "pull into a lay-by" but for one thing there has to be one available, and for another by the time you find one the queue is often so long that you sit for a minute or two on tick-over (which is also encouraged to be kept to a minimum) waiting to exit the lay-by.
The result has been that drivers are more stressed, not less; we do not want to drive like loonies on the limiter everywhere, we just want to make what is often described as reasonable progress. We'd also like to spend more time with both eyes on the road instead of one being almost permanently kept on the speedo lest we should go slightly over the limit and incur penalty points. It also means, inevitably, that we have become less productive as it takes us longer to do our runs.
Well, you may say, at least you're driving safely. That's true in the strictest sense, inasmuch as we're not likely to get booked for speeding; and it's also indisputable that we are using less fuel. It does not help in respect of driver fatigue though; for example I do a regular run up to Montgomery which now takes about an hour longer than it used to, and on the way back the sheer boredom of tootling along at almost pedestrian pace makes nodding off a distinct risk. Did this run yesterday evening and I was absolutely knackered when I got home.
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Spare lorry has been sent out with a tramper as his has broken down, so no idea when it will be back!
Pat
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Is the idea that it gives direct feedback to the drivers or is the data telemetered to HQ for the subsequent ticking off?
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>> Is the idea that it gives direct feedback to the drivers or is the data
>> telemetered to HQ for the subsequent ticking off?
>>
A bit of both at our place.
The result are shown on a league table which none of us particularly give a stuff about, although it keeps our driver trainer, a veritable poacher turned gamekeeper, occupied and presumably justifies the waste of his salary.
Points win prizes; get too many and you're invited in for a chat with the gaffer but you won't be offered tea and biscuits. So it's better to be pointless which pretty much sums the whole exercise up.
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The information is available to the driver as he drives but can be switched off if he prefers to select another menu option!
It is delivered back to base, both in real time and also in daily and weekly reports.
I've been very interested in HM's posts on this because I'm tasked with facing 15 HM's at a time and justifying why it is needed:)
I decided I wouldn't do this unless I could experience it and prove the 'data' actually works with my bum on the seat. Then, and only then, am I happy to do it with confidence.
Every firm has different ways of implementing the whole telematics scheme and HM makes no mention of a monetary bonus for the driver to make the saving to the employer worthwhile....perhaps this doesn't happen?
I prefer to work with a carrot and stick and the benefits are there for the asking. There is no penalty for going slightly over the speed limit, and the stick just consists of a debrief and possibly further 'in cab' training.
I am in fact HM's >>>>although it keeps our driver trainer, a veritable poacher turned gamekeeper, occupied and presumably justifies the waste of his salary<< at the moment:)
It's a challenge I'm enjoying, and am confident I can win.....but need to know I'm not being fed bullsh*t, before I start to gain the drivers respect on this one!
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Wed 21 Jan 15 at 04:52
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>> Every firm has different ways of implementing the whole telematics scheme and HM makes no
>> mention of a monetary bonus for the driver to make the saving to the employer
>> worthwhile....perhaps this doesn't happen?
>>
There is talk (although at the moment that's all it is) of vouchers being awarded to the best performing driver on a monthly basis.
I'm somewhat sceptical; we've put up with this for about 6 months now, whilst I appreciate that fuel economy is paramount and that better driving is also good, on the downside it's very much like sitting your HGV test every day. One of the things which attracted me, and many other drivers, to this job in the first place was that it's always been the case that within reason you are your own boss once you leave the yard, and so long as you do your job properly, safely, keep the customers happy and deliver within the time specified you don't get hassled. That seems to have been sacrificed for the sake of satisfying busybodies ticking boxes.
Quite simply, I'm de-motivated, and so are most of my fellow drivers; and I'm sure that was in no way the intention of the exercise. So to conclude, either our firm are applying it wrongly, or else it's a load of bulldust and needs consigning to the dustbin.
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>> Is the idea that it gives direct feedback to the drivers or is the data
>> telemetered to HQ for the subsequent ticking off?
Is it true that Ryan Air pilots get a ticking off and failure to renew contracts if they carry around too much fuel?
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And hence their propensity to declare a fuel emergency when asked to hold, thereby barging to the front of the queue for landing slots. Or so the story goes.
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I am aware of that at Ryanair - I think they operate a kind of league table type thing where the highest fuel users are named and shamed
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Well, todays the day!
My 'tutor' is my ex transport Manager of 17 years and the drivers are now taking bets on how many miles it will be before we have one of our spectacular fall outs:)
Pat
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Good luck Pat. It sounds like a faff to me.
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>> Is it true that Ryan Air pilots get a ticking off and failure to renew
>> contracts if they carry around too much fuel?
>>
Probably. Every major western airline (Ryanair, Easyjet, BA, Virgin etc) will have the same fuel policy, including league tables. Provided there's a good reason (snow? fog? strong winds? short runway?) no one will ever be penalised for chucking extra fuel on.
Sometimes though the unexpected happens and fuel is burnt quite quickly. Contingency fuel can be as little as five minutes flight time, and it's accepted that might get burnt before arrival anyway. The reason flights occasionally land under a may day is because they're at risk of burning into their final reserve fuel, which is a strict no-no. Ultimately though, that's what it's there for.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 23 Jan 15 at 01:45
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Telematics and fuel efficient driving. - Zero
