An experiment carries on along the Russian Highways roads, in which KamAZ tractors with semis travel in parallel along the highways and their free alternatives. The preliminary outcome of the project can already be announced.
The mileage of four KamAZ vehicles over 5 months amounted to 270 thousand kilometers, of which more than 73 thousand kilometers are part of high-speed motorways. Analysis of the parameters showed that the average fuel consumption on the high-speed motorways is 0.9 liters lower, the average speed is 8 km/h higher, operating braking is 1.6% lower, and the frequency of cruise control activation is 9% higher. Another indicator — speed uniformity, which affects the load on a vehicle's parts and assemblies — was measured in points. Highways scored 7.2 points, their alternatives, 3.0.
The progress of the experiment was discussed by Konstantin Makiev, Deputy Chairman of the Board for Operator Activities and Development of User Services of the Russian Highways State Company, and Ilya Sattarov, Director General of NATCAR.
According to Konstantin Makiev, the collaborative project with NATCAR and KamAZ on developing an efficiency calculator is primarily carried out for users of highways. The experiment will allow to clearly demonstrate what kind of economy a business will get when leveraging the Russian Highways routes vs. alternative routes. Such a calculator for comparing fleet productivity, fuel and repair costs will become a valuable tool for decision-making and cost management.
In turn, the head of NATCAR Ilya Sattarov claimed that time savings, fuel efficiency, less wear of parts and tires are the factors that are considered by large haulage companies when choosing the Russian Highways roads. Ilya Sattarov also commented that the ongoing experiment would let compare fuel consumption, the degree of wear of parts and assemblies, the frequency of repairs and vehicle performance in accurate figures.
Konstantin Makiev added that with the expansion of the highway network, the demand for them from businesses and companies keeps growing. The Russian Highways are consistently expanding their geographical scope and keep developing roadside service taking into account the wishes and requests of road users.
