How your lubricant can help reduce the cost of every kilometre
Frank Machatschek, Shell Product Application Specialist for Heavy-Duty Engine Oil OEMs in Europe, explains how lubrication can have a disproportionately large impact on fleet operating costs.
Frank Machatschek is a Shell Product Application Specialist for Heavy-Duty Engine Oil OEMs in Europe. He is responsible for delivering global lubricant-related support to German OEMs such as Daimler Truck and MAN. In addition to providing technical support, Frank has worked on Shell’s product development offering for HDDEOs, which included undertaking field trials with prototype oils in collaboration with fleet-specific OEMs around the globe.
Oils and lubricants are fundamental to ensuring engines run efficiently. The higher the quality of the oil, the higher the fuel economy, and the more durable the truck is when managing a range of conditions.
But, when Frank Machatschek, Shell Product Application Specialist for Heavy-Duty Engine Oil OEMs in Europe, needs a little help in convincing customers of the benefits on offer from high quality lubricants, he notes that the biggest driver for fleet managers across the world is operating costs.
“As outlined in the Decarbonising Road Freight: Getting into Gear whitepaper, fuel in diesel trucks accounts for nearly 50% of a truck’s operational costs1” explains Machatschek. “Meanwhile, maintenance spend typically accounts for 10% of these operational costs2 and within this the lubricant element is much smaller.
“But the lubricant element can achieve much more. It can influence big block costs such as fuel consumption – and this is the beauty of investing in the right lubricant technology.” Machatschek then notes that “lubricant technology is the ‘low risk, high reward’ solution – the lubricant is not only a minor expenditure for fleet managers in comparison to other operational costs but can protect vehicle components from wear and tear and improve fuel efficiency.” With the low High Temperature High Shear (HTHS) viscosity products of Shell’s Rimula R7 product range this can be up to 3.9%3.
Three ways that lubrication can help cut costs
When asked why there is still something of a blind spot when it comes to the role and potential value of lubrication, Machatschek points first to the complex nature of managing a fleet.
“Ultimately, the core business of a fleet is not the lubricant. In fact, the lubricant is often not even a secondary consideration for many, given the various other challenges that a fleet must contend with. However, this viewpoint can affect lubrication’s impact on one of the key priorities for every fleet business: ensuring the engine operates efficiently and reliably, thereby reducing costs.” And indeed, there are three key factors that make this link so important:
Improved fuel economy
It’s universally understood that the better a vehicle’s fuel economy, the less fuel is consumed and the more productive – and profitable – that fuel spend becomes as a facet of Total Cost of Operations (TCO). Lesser known, however, is the combined efficiency potential of both fuel and lubrication – with tests showing that, together, Shell premium fuel and lubricants can equate to 8.9% fuel economy and 5.28% more load-pulling power thanks to cleaned-up fuel injectors4.
Lower risk of breakdown
Protection is the name of the game when it comes to lubrication, with high quality oils targeting the acids and deposits that can lead to corrosion, as well as providing wear control to the most high-pressure contact points such as engine valve trains and the piston/piston ring/liner group. All of which means a lower likelihood of breakdown, unplanned maintenance, and the costs that come with it.
Extended engine and engine oil life
If kept protected and productive, vehicles can work harder amid a lower chance of breakdown and do so for longer. The right lubricant achieves this not only by providing adequate protection, but by enabling longer oil-drain intervals too, leading to components needing to be replaced less often and maintenance costs lowering across the lifetime of the vehicle.
“Not only that, but a lubricant’s impact can also be immediate too,” adds Machatschek, “and this impact is independent of a lot of other variables involved, whether that is the driver and their behaviours, the operating conditions present or the ambient temperature of the engine and other components.”
“Now, that doesn’t mean focus can be taken off other important factors that have a big say on vehicle performance, like driver training or route management. But the fact that your lubricant can simply be put in place and then left to work means that fleets can reap the passive benefits while being able to focus on more immediate, hands-on issues.”
Why low viscosity means high performance
In particularly cost-conscious climates, deciding to increase outlay on anything can be a difficult decision to make. When it comes to your lubrication however, spending less can often end up costing more in the long run, due to unintended consequences such as additional maintenance, unplanned downtime, or simply poor vehicle performance.
“It may seem counterintuitive,” says Machatschek, “but during periods of high fuel costs, this is the exact time when you should be looking to upgrade, rather than downgrade, something like your lubricant. I always remind my customers that a good quality, low viscosity lubricant is a lot less costly than other fuel economy solutions and it will work immediately to lower fuel consumption once you make the change.”
Low viscosity oils work by reducing friction and therefore flow more quickly through the engine during start-up – the single most important performance property of a lubricant. Though the viscosity is not the only essential parameter needed, it mustn’t be achieved at the expense of protective performance and durability throughout its lifetime.
Fortunately, thanks to regulatory and OEM developments, the quality of lubricants available has never been higher. The new Shell Rimula R7 range of low viscosity oils are approved by leading OEMs for use in their latest generation of fuel-efficient engines. These products demonstrated improved fuel economy performance combined with strong durability, proven across a range of field trial testing.
“Ultimately, your oils and lubricants play a fundamental part in ensuring the engine runs efficiently,” concludes Machatschek. “And over the last few years, we have been able to develop robust and durable ultra-low viscosity oils that can meet the most severe requirements of OEMs, meaning there really isn’t any excuse for using a low-quality lubricant in this day and age.”
With dedicated, experienced, and local account managers working alongside technical, cross-market experts, Shell can help you introduce the latest lubricants to your fleet, so you can meet your performance and regulatory requirements. Speak to a Shell expert today.
Disclaimers
1 Shell. “Decarbonising Road Freight: Getting into Gear.” 2021.
2 Shell. “Powering Efficient Fleets: How lubricants can help achieve the lowest cost per kilometre.” 2018.
3 SAE 0W-20 (2.6 HTHS / R7 Plus AI) & 5W-30 (FA-4) products demonstrated up to 3% fuel economy when compared to 10W-40 product and up to 3.9% fuel economy when compared to a 15W-40 product (both 4.0 mPa·s HTHS) in controlled field testing which produced statistically significant data – field trials carried out in Europe.
4 Compared to regular diesel without fuel economy formula and to standard lubricant. Based on demonstration tests with heavy-duty EU VI trucks in real-life city and urban conditions in collaboration with ATP, Germany. Customer benefits will vary according to type of operation, vehicle, driving conditions and driving style.
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