Bell's Tried & Tested Fuel Efficient Design Philosophy Pays Dividends To Customers In The Fuel Price Surge

With crude oil prices at a record high, and the additional pressures of increasing inflation and economic slow-down, UK plant users face their biggest challenge in decades.

Recent test data compiled by Bell Equipment UK has now clearly demonstrated how the world's most fuel-efficient ADTs can significantly reduce an operator's fuel costs, potentially saving the typical user tens of thousands of pounds per year.

There is much debate among the experts as to whether or not the fuel crisis is the direct result of straightforward supply and demand economics, driven by the enormous energy demands from China and India.

Some blame reluctance by the Opec countries to boost production levels, while others have claimed that speculators are largely responsible for “talking up” the escalation of oil prices.

Whatever the reason, one thing is clear; industries that rely upon fuel are being hit very hard in the pocket. And they must either find a solution or risk going out of business.

The picture is a startling one. In June 2007 the price of crude oil stood at around $65 per barrel. Just 12 months later this figure more than doubled, nudging $140 per barrel by mid-June 2008. Commentators generally accept that the situation will worsen, with estimates that the price of oil will catapult to $200 in 2009, possibly even as much as $250.
Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at global investment bank Barclays Capital and senior research advisor at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, told the Financial Times in May that the market was predicting a subsequent price drop after oil tops the $200 mark, but only to around the $130 mark.

That gloomy prediction suggests that we are not seeing a blip – the current situation is here to stay.

Transportation is the largest consumer of the world's oil. And most industries that rely on transportation also rely on diesel, which has been hit the hardest by the latest price hikes due to spiralling demands and a lack of refining capacity.
Neville Paynter, managing director of Bell Equipment UK, said: “Fuel is a massive issue. The price has shot to its highest level ever, and all the talk is that it will go to $200 a barrel. Companies are going to have to carefully consider how best to manage their operating costs. It is essential now to move away from traditional thinking and quickly find alternative production solutions.”

Paynter said the market situation was exacerbated by other issues, such as steel shortages, which had already resulted in cost pressures elsewhere.

“In the last two years, for example, customers have seen significant rises in the cost of plant machinery from all manufacturers, perhaps as much as 12%,” he said. “Yet the operator has been able to recoup only as little as perhaps 2-3% elsewhere. This is not a sustainable situation.

“The so-called credit crunch is causing more problems, with many construction sites either closing or being put on hold due to the uncertainty in the economy.

“And now the fuel crisis is having a huge knock-on effect. Contracts will have been quoted for large projects, and the fuel price forms a major part of the overall cost, so it has an enormous bearing on the competitiveness of your quote.”
Fuel is the largest single contributor to the operating cost of ADT users. Now that users are paying more than double the amount they were for diesel just one year ago, fuel economy has become a crucial, overriding factor. Many ADT owners, for example those that purchase fleets for their own site operation, have typically always considered fuel costs. However, many plant hirers have traditionally not done so because the fuel costs have been picked up by the end user. These firms are now starting to ask questions about fuel consumption.

So exactly how much impact can a more fuel-efficient machine really have on your bottom line?

The table shows exactly how significant a decrease (or increase) in hourly fuel burn is in terms of the running cost of a single machine. When you consider that the average hourly utilisation per annum for ADTs can be up to 2000 hours per year in the UK, the figures clearly highlight the importance of considering the hourly fuel burn rate. Then, when you begin to multiply these costs across a fleet, the numbers are truly staggering. For example, if a quarry operator with a fleet of six ADTs can save four litres per hour of fuel on each machine, he stands to save around £100,000 over the course of three years. Whether a client owns the equipment or hires the equipment in, the fuel cost needs to be considered because someone has to pay.

It is widely accepted throughout the industry that Bell articulated dump trucks are the most fuel efficient machines on the market. This is a fact that Bell has never been afraid of proving to customers through demonstrations. But it is only when the comparative tests are carried out against competitor machines that operators can truly appreciate how significant a difference a Bell ADT can make to their bottom line.

Taking globally collated average data from Bell's popular 40-tonne B40D, tests show that it consumes approximately 21 litres of fuel per hour. This is 14% less fuel used than the equivalent machine from Bell's nearest rival manufacturer, which consumed on average 24 litres per hour under the same test conditions.

Tests in the UK included a five-day demonstration carried out by Bell technicians at a quarry reclamation site in Harlow, Essex. The tests, in May, measured the Bell B40D against a similar product from a rival manufacturer. The conditions involved a downhill haul, over 1.6 miles of mainly good (Grade A) terrain, covering gradients varying from 10 to 20 degrees.

The B40D returned an average fuel consumption of 20.9 l/hr, while the rival machine returned 33.7 l/hr. Based on a red diesel price of 68p per litre, this represents a fuel cost per hour of £14.21 for the Bell and £22.92 for the competitor.
But then if we multiply those hourly fuel costs by the number of hours in a shift, number of working days in a week and the number of working weeks in a year, we can see some astounding figures. Based on a conservative 12-hour day, five-day week and 48-week year, the Bell machine demonstrated a saving of more than £25,000 per year over the rival manufacturer's machine. The table below (figure 3) helps to illustrate the test data: