Re: HGV Fuel Efficiency

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:31:05 GMT, NM <never.opened@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Doug Baiter wrote:
On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:58:02 -0000, "Gizmo."
<Stephan.halmett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"judith" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ufk5m3ll2uvukhst7h8jph1sttb845qser@xxxxxxxxxx
Just caught an item on the BBC TV news about the price of fuel.

There was an interview with the head of a haulage firm who I believe
said that they had got rid of their HGVs and replaced with smaller
vehicles as they were much more economical to run.

Is this the case?
I saw that ... and still can't understand how their economics or logic work.

To simplify my thinking:
Even if they downsized to 17t lorries, they'd still need 3 qty to carry the
"same" amount of load as a 44t HGV.
I doubt very much if a 17t returns 3 times or more mpg than a 44t ! Plus the
overheads would pretty much treble.

Or am I looking at this the wrong way ?

Well in a word, yes :o).
The problem with your logic is that it assumes maximum density where
available, and if that were the case then yes, you'd be right in
thinking that the bigger truck is 'better'. I'd be *fascinated* to see
the RHA publish some statistics on how much transported volume is
empty!

Very little, it's too expensive to run empty.

You'd _think_ that applied to planes (and to an even greater degree)
but we're hearing more and more of 'ghost flights' to move freight
capacity around. Obviously RH operators would prefer vehicles to be
fully laden, but can you see them turning down a lucrative load simply
because they dont have a vehicle in the right place? I freely admit
its a bit of a leap to assume that road freight suffers from a problem
simply because we know air freight does, but I think its a
_reasonable_ leap!
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: HGV Fuel Efficiency
    ... with smaller vehicles as they were much more economical to run. ... carry the "same" amount of load as a 44t HGV. ... its a bit of a leap to assume that road freight suffers from a problem ...
    (uk.transport)
  • Re: Trucks on the M6
    ... they can outbrake most cars. ... severity of casualties is 43 for HGVs and only 26 for light goods vehicles ... If only KSI accidents are considered it is 7 for HGVs, 3.6 for light goods ...
    (uk.transport)
  • Re: Trucks on the M6
    ... entitled 'vehicles involved and involvement rates: ... severity of accident' the rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres for all ... Incomparison it is 73 for cars. ... the kill rate for HGVs is higher than for cars ...
    (uk.transport)
  • Re: penalty for too close...
    ... Remember that in recent spot checks on HGVs in London 100% of vehicles were found to be illegal. ... HGV drivers in fact, are some of the best drivers on the road. ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Let us concrete them over
    ... > But a technology which carries the bulk of freight around the world ... ... I have lost count of the amount of times I see HGVs mounting the ...
    (uk.railway)