18 Month Trial Shows 12% Fuel Savings on 1000km Monthly Waste Collection Service : FuelSense 2.0 Software from Allison Provides 12% Fuel Savings for French Refuse Collection Fleet

An independent test carried out by the Métropole d'Aix-Marseille-Provence administrative area in the south of France has shown that FuelSense® 2.0 software, developed by Allison Transmission, saved up to 12% fuel on some of its refuse collection vehicles.

Allison Transmission’s FuelSense 2.0 software features DynActive™ Shifting. At the heart of this technology is an intelligent algorithm which continuously assesses driving conditions to best adjust gear changes. This algorithm takes into account different factors, such as vehicle weight, road gradient or the frequency of stops and starts.

Allison explained that its FuelSense 2.0 software was installed in four Renault Trucks D 4x2 vehicles, equipped for refuse collection. The fuel efficiency performance of the trucks, which traveled an average of 745 miles per month in regular domestic waste collection duty, was monitored over an 18 month period.

The fuel saving attributed to Allison’s FuelSense 2.0 was up to 12%. In addition to the significant savings in terms of fuel cost, these four vehicles reduced their CO2 emissions by almost five tonnes, while maintaining vehicle performance.

“The price of fuel encourages us to study all possible solutions to reduce our consumption. We did not expect such savings from this test: 12% is more than significant! And the feedback we have from drivers is very positive; the vehicles have maintained their usual performance,” commented Stanislas Kogut-Kubiak, Maintenance Manager at Métropole d'Aix-Marseille-Provence.

Based on this test, the conurbation has chosen to install FuelSense 2.0 on 24 other vehicles in its fleet to reduce consumption and CO2 emissions.

“Our fleet is made up of 160 refuse vehicles. 100% of them are equipped with Allison transmissions. We have chosen Allison transmissions for a long time. The investment is quickly paid back. Allison transmissions are robust and reliable and rarely require downtime, making maintenance easier,” said Kogut-Kubiak.

Following in the Footsteps of Fife

The transmission manufacturer added that the study reinforces the experience of Fife Council in Scotland where a six-month test involving two Mercedes-Benz Econic refuse collection vehicles returned an average 8.85% fuel saving.

This led Fife Council to install FuelSense 2.0 on 11 other refuse vehicles and to order a further 11 new vehicles equipped with new FuelSense 2.0 software. Allison is urging UK fleet owners running its fully automatic transmissions to upgrade their trucks mid-lifecycle to positively impact local emissions and enjoy improved whole life costs, via its FuelSense 2.0 upgrade programme.

“We estimate that approximately 7,000 Euro 6 Dennis Eagle, Leyland DAF, Mercedes-Benz and Renault Trucks vehicles registered between 2014 and 2018 in the UK could benefit from an upgrade to FuelSense 2.0. Together, this would reduce carbon emissions by 27,000 tonnes per year,” commented Nathan Wilson, UK Account & Market Development Manager at Allison Transmission.

“The aftermarket retrofit upgrade procedure takes just one hour per software update per vehicle, for a minimal cost. The result is that diesel vehicles that can drive cleaner straight away, generating significantly reduced emissions and lower fuel bills,” he concluded.

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