The fleet of national transport and logistics company, Centurion, is entering a new phase of higher productivity with the help of two widely recognised industry OEMs.
Ten specifically designed Performance-Based Standards (PBS) Super B-double drop deck combinations from Vawdrey, featuring axles and suspensions setups from BPW Transpec, are the main ingredients to the recipe.
The B-double sets, featuring mezzanine decks throughout and lightweight composite gates, are made up of two double drop deck trailers which offer significantly higher carrying capacities. Each combination measures in at 30m in length and 4.6m in height, and the B-doubles are also Dangerous Goods (DG) compliant.
Centurion’s choice of suspension for the B-doubles was BPW Transpec’s self-tracking steerable axles. The fleet spec’d two steerable axles on all of the lead trailers as well as one steerable axle on all of the end trailers in their rear axle groups.
“They’re all identical PBS combinations that are designed for use on our east coast shuttle network,” says Centurion Executive General Manager – Operational Services, Khali Lake, who explains the trailers will travel extensively across the eastern seaboard including to all of Centurion’s regional depots such as Townsville and Mackay in Queensland carrying a mix of specialty and general freight.
“They are all sitting on the same PBS approvals. They’re a higher productivity vehicle, so we’re looking to effectively carry more freight on that lane per driver.”
The combinations, Khali says, will enable Centurion to increase efficiency for its customers Australia-wide. With higher payload and cubic capacities per combination, the Super B-doubles can carry more freight per vehicle meaning the fleet can also reduce the number of trucks it puts on the road.
With eight of the 10 sets now in the fleet, Khali says Centurion has achieved productivity gains of about 35 per cent.
“They’ve all got brand new Daimler trucks in front of them as well which are highly efficient with low fuel burn, exceptional safety systems and driver amenities,” he says. “From a footprint perspective, we’re just trying to do more with less. Resources are limited and the price of operating costs are increasing, so we just want to make sure that we’re as efficient as we can be on our lanes.”
Image: Centurion.Vawdrey, Khali says, was chosen for this particular application due to its expertise and high-quality product. The Super B-double, he explains, was a proven concept that resided well with what Centurion was trying to achieve.
“Vawdrey is really a one-stop shop for us,” he says. “We can basically go there with a concept and they’ve got everything in-house to design the trailer, source the approvals and work with the regulator on our behalf.”
The reasoning behind the decision to spec BPW Transpec on these units, Khali says, was very similar.
“We’re of the opinion that BPW Transpec’s steerable axle in particular is the best,” he says. “I think that is well-proven not only in road-going performance but also with lifetime cost of assets, maintenance costs and warranty support.”
Having over 12 years of experience with BPW Transpec products himself, Khali is very confident about how the steerable axles will perform on the B-doubles.
“As the history would suggest, I expect the BPW Transpec components to be low maintenance,” he says. “They will perform exactly the same every time. Both the mechanical components and the braking components should not give us any grief.
“They’re a stable platform. The steering mechanism in itself and the simplicity of it is the brilliance of BPW Transpec’s engineering. That simplicity translates to effectiveness, so I’m expecting our drivers in particular to notice a big difference between the steering and the manoeuvrability of those combinations, given that they’re 30 metres long compared to a traditional B-double. I think these units look big but they’ll go places that I don’t think the drivers will expect them to go initially.”
Over the past 15 years, Centurion has typically picked BPW Transpec axles and suspensions for condition-specific tasks like heavy-duty or off-road applications where a lot of weight or harsh environment is involved.
This has been seen especially in Centurion’s heavy haulage business which transitioned the fleet’s suspension to BPW Transpec equipment.
For these specific requirements, Centurion also leans on BPW Transpec’s technical team to come up with different concepts. The cooperative arrangement means BPW Transpec can fulfil Centurion’s exact requirements with direct technical support.
“BPW Transpec has really good parts and technical support in the country,” Khali says. “They have got a very good staffing base and they have people on hand when you need them as well.
“When conditions are expected to be tougher than normal, we will typically spec BPW Transpec exclusively – for example with our desert fleet or our heavy haulage business where we’re looking at really specific applications. So, if we’re keeping an asset for a long period of time, we’ll find that although the upfront price of BPW Transpec will be higher, the life of asset costs is significantly lower. That’s the long-term benefit of using BPW Transpec.”
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