The rapid pace at which the emerging economies of China and India are growing is largely responsible for the increase in the fuel price worldwide and why diesel is now more expensive than petrol in South Africa.

This is according to Peter Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of the Fuel Retailer’s Association (FRA) who said that industries in those countries are placing huge pressure on the demand for diesel, in particular, and driving prices through the roof.

From February 2007 to June 2008 the price of diesel has more than doubled. Looking ahead Morgan believes the crude oil price, which has a major effect on the fuel price, is likely to reach $200 per barrel over the next 12 to 18 months. Although there are numerous factors contributing to the fuel price calculation, should crude oil reach this record price it would not be unlikely for South African consumers to be paying in the region of R16 per litre of diesel.

Therefore the current and future impact of the fuel price on local business and the economy is a genuine concern of industry role players, who are continually looking at ways of working smarter and trying to contain the rising monthly fuel consumption bill.

A spokesperson for a large opencast mining operation in the North-West province admits the company is “really hurting” as a result of the soaring diesel cost.

He said: “As an example, we started contracts a year ago when the diesel price was around R6,40 per litre. Compared to today’s price that’s an 86% increase, which isn’t good news when you consider that diesel accounts for 30% of our operating cost. In the last eight months our diesel bill has literally doubled from about R6,5 million per month to R13 million.”

Apart from the financial burden of the fuel cost, the almost monthly price hikes are placing additional pressure on companies when tendering for new contracts. Said the spokesperson: “By the time a contract has been awarded the diesel price has already gone up by R1,50 or R1,70. Although we have a rise and fall clause in our contracts it does make cost forecasting difficult.”

The company in question took delivery of their first Bell Articulated Dump Trucks in June 2007 when a competitor was unable to deliver their trucks on time. In hindsight, the spokesperson admits that this was a blessing in disguise as the Bell ADTs are more fuel efficient, using 5 to 6 litres per hour less than the competitor’s machines.

Currently the company has a fleet of five B50Ds, 28 B40Ds and five B20Ds. “We are looking to standardise our ADT fleet with Bell machines to simplify our maintenance and service. Importantly it will also compound our fuel saving.”

Meanwhile Moolmans, one of the leading southern African mining contracting companies and a member of the Aveng Group, took delivery of their first Bell Articulated Dump Trucks about nine months ago after traditionally using 100 to 180-tonne rigid dump trucks. The company currently has a fleet of 20 B50Ds, the largest production ADT in the world, and has a further 10 machines on order.

Director of Moolmans’ South African Operations, Justin Colling said the change from rigid trucks to ADTs was largely due to application issues as well as the availability and flexibility of the fleet. However, the superior fuel economy of ADTs has proven to be welcome added advantage in light of the current fuel price trend.

“In the late 1990s the fuel cost was between 20 to 25% of the total operating cost. Today it is more in the region of 30% plus and will continue to have a larger impact as the fuel price increases. Therefore, companies have to consider fuel economy when they look at purchasing new machines,” said Colling.

In his experience the fuel usage per ton of an ADT compared to a rigid truck is significantly less, in the region of 10 to 20%, depending on the application. He added: “We opted for the B50D as it carries about 12,5% more than a 40-ton ADT for about 1 litre per hour more of fuel. In our current application we have excellent fuel burn of only 26 litres per hour. This compares very well on a ‘litre per cubic metre of material moved basis’ of the rigid trucks.”

Director of Trollope Mining, John Trollope said the company runs a fleet of 25 B40Ds and initially chose Bell ADTs because they “are as good as any other make of ADT, are competitively priced and have excellent fuel economy”.

He explained how crucial a factor fuel economy has become when purchasing plant by comparing the diesel consumption of the three ADT manufacturers whose machines they operate.

“On one of our sites we have 10 Bell B40Ds working alongside eight 40-ton ADTs from two other manufacturers. Our B40Ds have a fuel consumption of between 18 and 22 litres per hour compared to the other trucks that use between four and seven litres per hour more. Over 8 000 hours, which is by no means the lifespan of an ADT, that equates to a saving of between R320 000 and R560 000 per truck. Take that saving an multiply it by the fleet size over a number of years and one can see that fuel economy can make a huge difference.”

Commenting on the fuel economy of Bell ADTs, the company’s Product Marketing Manager: ADTs, Stephen Jones said lowest operating costs and significant fuel burn advantages are achieved by focusing on several key areas during the design and development of Bell products.

“These include weight optimised design so that maximum strength is retained while the tare weight of the vehicle is kept to an absolute minimum as additional tare weight contributes to poor off-road availability and increased fuel burn. High alloy steels are used to fabricate our structures to provide greater strength and castings are used sparingly to limit dead weight,” he said.

Bell engineers gain further fuel burn advantages by focusing on the drivetrain, from the engine down to the tyres, to assess and actively minimise potential drivetrain losses. Explains Jones: “Drivetrain losses can reduce the available power to the ground necessitating more fuel to do the same work, but our long term relationships with leading transmission and driveline component suppliers, have ensured the best matching, set-up and programming is achieved. Our inline planetary transmissions also ensure significantly lower losses than the countershaft designs used in other ADTs.”

In addition Bell Equipment makes use of Mercedes Benz engines, which are market leaders in terms of employing the latest injection and electronic control technologies. Said Jones: “Bell Equipment’s close relationship with Mercedes Benz, which spans over 20 years, facilitates close cooperation and optimisation of the ADT engines as these need to be lightweight, powerful, efficient and reliable.”

The marriage between the power plant and drivetrain, combined with cutting edge intelligent software including on-board weighing, enables Bell ADTs to electronically respond to changes in load, terrain or driving style, thereby improving performance and fuel economy.

Meanwhile Jones said that monitoring tyre pressures and an operator’s driving style could impact significantly on fuel costs. “In this regard, Bell Equipment has on-board tyre monitoring systems available to constantly assess and report on tyre pressure. Bell ADTs also display the current fuel burn figures in the cab so that an operator is able to adjust his driving style accordingly. We also offer on-site operator training to ensure that operators know how to simultaneously deliver highest productivity and best fuel economy.”

Complementing the Bell ADT is the company’s satellite fleet monitoring system, Fleetm@tic, which provides accurate up-to-date operational data, production data, fault data as well as machine location and movements for maximum efficiency.