Scania has come up with a clever driver aid to improve driving ability and save fuel
By Steev Hayes
PHOTOGRAPHY STEEV HAYES
The price of fuel may well have come down a little in recent weeks (although controversially, fuel prices are still relatively high at the pumps, so it’s anyone’s guess as to when those savings will be passed on to consumers), but fuel still accounts for a major part of any transport company’s costs.
So, if drivers can be cosseted into treating a truck as their own – unless they are an owner-driver, in which case it will be their own – fuel savings and better mpg brought about by any ways or means can, and must still, be a target.
Scania claims it has technology which can help drivers and operators achieve better mpg from their trucks, and can also coach drivers into sharpening up their skills. The technology the manufacturer is currently singing about is its Scania Driver Support system. It helps the driver get the best from the truck in a number of ways, including fuel consumption reductions through better driving technique. It also measures – in real time – anticipation, hill driving, choice of gears and braking.
Read the rest of this feature in the January 2015 issue of Trucking. Buy the magazine here
