DIESEL IN AMERICA

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 63, 11 September 1937, Page 28

DIESEL IN AMERICA

HEAVY TRUCK ECONOMIES

Truck operators in America who have experienced sayings by the use of diesel-engined vehicles for heavy haulage over long distances have been responsible for considerable interest being.manifested in this type. It is stated that, the milage obtained from heavy fuels for loads of twelve tons and more is about twice that got from petrol-engined trucks and the consequence has been that firms not engaged in long hauls, but which use vehicles on short hauls and •do 200 miles and more a day, are also trying them out.- The'result is surprising. It is claimed that the saving is greater than even in the case of long hauls, the milage being in some instances nearly three/times what was obtained from petrol. One company hauling mixed concrete, gravel, and stone bought a diesel-engined truck, then another and a third, and followed this up with an order for eighteen, designed to haul sixteen to eighteen-ton loads—all "dump" trucks.

Recent installations include trucks to haul mixed concrete, the engine being used not only to propel the truck along but' also to turn the mixing drum.

An important factor in the fuel saving is the amount of fuel used not while the truck is moving but while it is waiting at street crossings and in traffic jams, etc., with the engine running under no load. One authority holds that it is not the number of miles to be travelled but the number of hours an engine will require to run :that determines whether the diesel type is desirable or not. The claim is made • that one diesel engine, of which a record has been kept, has gone 488,000 miles in the Eastern States and is still going strong. Claims for engines in the west include 700,000 and 800,000 miles. Two fleets are each stated to have over 100 diesel-engined trucks in operation.