IPL Haulage reports significant fuel savings from New Actros 12 July 2013

Container transport firm IPL Haulage expects to cut its fuel costs by 5—8% by buying a pair of Mercedes-Benz New Actros 2545 BigSpace tractor units, with two more due in January 2014.

Ian Percival, managing director of the Totton, Southampton-based operator, says that positive reports on New Actros' fuel-efficiency, from other operators, and Pentagon's reputation for sales back-up together persuaded him to give them a try.

So Pentagon supplied two New Actros demonstrators, and Percival says he "allocated one to a very good driver, and the other to a guy who's less experienced" to see how they fared.

"It's difficult to make accurate comparisons, because our work is so varied. But the good driver achieved 9.5 mpg, which is very encouraging, given that our fleet average is 8.75 mpg. The second driver didn't do quite as well but still returned 9.1 mpg – an improvement of almost 0.4 mpg.

"I'm optimistic that these New Actros are going to prove very economical in service.. Given that an improvement of three-quarters of a mile per gallon translates into an annual saving in diesel of around £6,000 for a single vehicle, there's clearly all to play for as far as Pentagon and Mercedes-Benz are concerned."

Percival lso rates the look of the the New Actros. "It's undoubtedly the best looking truck on the road right now," he says. But he adds: "It doesn't matter how good the truck is, it's the whole package that's crucial. Pentagon has a good reputation in this part of the world, so I'm also looking forward to putting its back-up to the test."

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd

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