Suckling’s Eco Guardian project - savings with safety

Suckling Transport’s award-winning Eco Guardian project – which pioneered the concept of environmentally-friendly trucks way before it became ‘PC’ to do so – is displaying its latest fleet addition at the CV Show. The truck will also be shown by DAF Trucks as part of its outside exhibits and will also be at the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers Show in Dublin on 23/4 April.

Peter Larner, Managing Director of J W Suckling Transport Ltd, said: “Ten years ago we foresaw the need to make transport more environmentally friendly as well as productive. The Eco Guardian project has played an important role in making technologies which were ‘futuristic’ a decade ago a reality today”.

To mark ten years since its original Eco Guardian vehicle, Suckling - as part of an order for eight DAF FTP CF85.410 6x2 tractor units and Cobo trailers - has ordered a Euro 5 compliant vehicle complete with the DAF Safedrive package of safety related options. Suckling’s new DAF fleet has been purchased to meet increased demand from Shell and increased business generally. The company has another four DAF FTPs arriving in September for its contract with ConocoPhillips.

The new Eco Guardian is a DAF FTP CF85.410 with a DAF MX engine producing 410hp (300kW) @ 1900 and a torque of 2000 Nm @ 1000-1410 rpm. It has an automated AS-tronic transmission, a Sleeper Cab and is fully prepared for petroleum transport with a Safe Loading Pass for operation in and out of a refinery.

The specification includes a number of safety features including the DAF Safedrive Package (Xenon headlamps, axle load monitoring, driver’s airbag and seat belt tensioners, vehicle stability control and lane departure warning system) plus the MX engine brake, red seat belts and a verbal parking brake warning (which warns ‘handbrake not applied’ when the driver’s door is opened unless the park brake is on).

In the original Eco Guardian project of 1998 Suckling focused on exhaust emissions reduction through the use of several retrofit components such as a continuously regenerative trap. Today’s Eco Guardian vehicle is able to benefit from the new technologies adopted by DAF in the development of their latest Euro 5 which achieves the emissions limits required from October 2009. This means that the new 44 tonne GCW CF85 combination achieves a dramatic reduction in practically all exhaust emissions compared with the 33 tonne 75CF of 1998 without the need for retrofit devices.

For instance the 12.9 litre 410 hp MX engine has CO (carbon monoxide) values which are 95% lower and HC (hydrocarbon) levels that are 80% lower than the previous 9.2 litre 320 hp PF engine.

Because the emissions of the new 410 hp MX engine are fully compliant with the Euro 5 limits ahead of the mandatory date the Eco Guardian combination only produces one quarter of the NOx and particulates produced by the Euro 2 engine.

Peter Larner says: ‘We strive to achieve the best fleet and vehicle productivity, lowest operational costs and lowest environmental impact in our operation. In terms of carbon footprint we will be monitoring the fuel consumption of this combination which can accommodate almost 37,000 litres of diesel carefully with the aim of minimizing the CO2 emitted for each litre of fuel delivered.

“We recognize that the best way to help the environment by reducing our carbon footprint and reducing the production of other harmful exhaust gases is to operate the cleanest engines whilst maximizing productivity. Initiatives such as the Tankshare scheme, which we pioneered to ensure maximum vehicle utilization, and operation of the lightest vehicles to maximize payload on every trip, ensures we keep our environmental impact to a minimum. The integrated safety systems fitted to the vehicle will help maintain an enviable safety record in this most safety conscious of industries”, he said.

“When we launched Eco Guardian a decade ago we little thought that we were pioneering a cause – of cleaner trucks – which would become the watchword of the transport industry. It’s really good to see that a standard ‘off the peg’ truck from DAF now has even lower emission levels than those that we went to great lengths to achieve back in 1998.

“The latest DAF CF85 at Euro 5 represents the very best of truck technology and I am certain that – in another decade – all new trucks will be emitting minute amounts of harmful gases compared with now. We at Suckling are proud to have played our part in this revolution”, said Mr Larner.