Shell Debuts Oils Formulated for API CK-4 and FA-4 Categories

Image: Shell Lubricants

WASHINGTON, DC. Years of work in the lab and millions of miles of road testing has culminated in three new Rotella engine oils formulated to meet the API CK-4 and FA-4 oil-service categories that will start coming on the market later this year, Shell Lubricants announced here at a July 19 media briefing.

“We have been working on the new CK-4 and FA-4 specifications for more than five years, keeping in mind that meeting the new specifications was simply a starting point for Shell Rotella,” said Chris Guerrero, Brand Marketing Manager for global heavy-duty diesel engine oil.”

Once industry product licensing begins in December, CK-4 oils will replace current CJ-4 oils and will be completely backwards-compatible with all current engines, according to Shell. To meet the CK-4 specs, oils will be formulated with improved oxidation resistance, shear stability and aeration control.

To meet FA-4, oils will also be formulated with lower viscosity grades designed for next-generation diesel engines— those of model year 2017 and newer-- to help maximize fuel economy without sacrificing engine protection, the company stated.

Also per Shell, because some older engines were not designed to operate with lower-viscosity oils, the backwards-compatibility of FA-4 products will be limited by individual engine makers.

Rotella T4 Triple Protection, offered in 15W-40 and 10W-30 grades, will meet the CK-4 spec while Rotella T5 Ultra10W-30 Synthetic Blend will comply with FA-4. However, no product will be marked with the API CK-4 or SA-4 donut until December 1, the date of first licensure for both categories.

Rotella T5 Ultra 10W-30 will be introduced in December. It's formulated for improved fuel economy compared to Rotella CK-4 oils yet offers “equivalent wear protection to CK-4 products,” according to Shell.

The company noted that Rotella T5 Synthetic Blend 15W-40 and Rotella T6 Full Synthetic 5W-40 will also be reformulated to meet CK-4 specifications. Also to be rolled out will be Rotella T6 Multi-Vehicle 5W-30, which will meet CK-4 and SN category specs so it can be used in both diesel and gasoline engines.

“Shell Lubricants has been a leader in the development and testing of next generation engine oils that will meet the new API specifications without compromising oil life or wear protection,” said Dan Arcy, Global OEM technical manager. “We've conducted more than 40 million miles of real-world testing to demonstrate the performance of our next-generation engine oils to meet the CK-4 and FA-4 specifications.”

According to Arcy, T4 Triple Protection oil will “effectively sustain emissions control system durability where diesel particulate filters and after-treatment systems are used. It provides enhanced protection against viscosity loss due to shear and improved oil aeration. The exclusive low-ash formulation helps protect the exhaust catalysts and diesel particulate filters found on the latest low-emission vehicles.” He added that a fuel-economy benefit may be realized from running the 10W-30 grade of this oil.

As for the 15W-40 T4, Arcy said it will provide “wear protection beyond CK-4 standards. In API industry wear tests, T4 Triple Protection 15W-40 didn't just meet CK-4 specs, it delivered an average 50% more wear protection than required. It also provided strong wear protection in CK-4 engine tests, including the Cummins ISM and ISB.”

He added that the T4 Triple Protection 15W-40 will “defend against deposits and help keep engines cleaner over the entire oil drain interval. It delivers reduced deposits in engine tests including Caterpillar 1N and OM 501.”

Rotella T5 Ultra 10W-30 has been enhanced with synthetic base oils, plus advanced additive technology to provide “Triple Protection Plus technology that adapts to driving conditions,” Arcy said. “It provides excellent wear protection and deposit control/cleanliness. It also protects against oil breakdown and sustains emission control system durability in particulate filters and aftertreatment systems.

He said that T5 Ultra “delivers excellent wear protection and deposit control/cleanliness. It also provides protection against oil breakdown and sustains emission control system durability in particulate filters and aftertreatment systems. And tests prove that this new oil has better cold cranking properties and low temperature pumpability at -25˚C and -30˚C respectively.

Arcy noted that T5 Ultra has been shown to provide a 1.6% fuel economy improvement compared to 15W-40 oil in an independent third-party test.

Guerrero called the new oils Shell's “most technically advanced, hardest working products to date.”

He said that selecting the proper engine oil will be easy once the new API categories kick in: “If it was built prior to 2016, whether it is on- or off-highway, choose CK-4 oil, which directly replaces CJ-4 oils. For a 2017 on-highway vehicle,; check with the manufacturer before changing the oil for the first time and if they allow an FA-4 oil, choose Rotella T5 Ultra 10W-30.”

The new products will come in new packaging “to protect the recognizable look of our bottles while simplifying the naming and developing a strong label design to help our customers select the proper Rotella product to meet their needs,” Guerrero pointed out.

“The logical naming structure of T4 to T5 to T6 and the Triple Protection identifier makes each engine oil easy to identify,” he explained. “Rotella T4 products will maintain their white bottle, T5 Synthetic Blend products their silver color, and T6 Full Synthetic products will continue in blue bottles.”

He added that the jugs will retain their “much-preferred two-handled design for easy pouring and the thinner dimension fits easily on retail shelves, in a shop or truck.” The products will be offered in one-gallon and quart jugs.

Related: Two Oil Categories Rolling to the Finish Line

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HDT Announces the 2016 Safety & Compliance Award Winner

Kelsey Wolfe (middle), Southern Freight Services' director of safety, human resources and recruiting receives the 2016 Safety & Compliance Award. Photo: Chris Wolski

Southern Freight Services director of safety, human resources and recruiting Kelsey Wolfe was awarded Heavy Duty Trucking magazine's 2016 Safety & Compliance Award during a ceremony on July 19 at the Fleet Safety Conference.

The award highlights candidates who have enhanced the safety of their companies and employees through leadership, innovation and measurable results. Nominees were evaluated by a panel of industry leaders to determine the winner of the award, which was presented at the Fleet Safety Conference.

Wolfe personally created each of SFS's safety policies that are enforced at the carrier and was responsible for recruiting hiring and training within the company. Policies that she created included the Required Road Test and Certification policy, Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace Standards, the SFS Driver Agreement with rules on attitude and professionalism as well as a strictly enforced cell phone policy and several others.

The cell phone policy calls for no texting, no talking and hands-free devices are required before a driver is qualified at SFS. Violation of the policy results in an immediate termination. The same strict adherence is called for in SFS's compliance with federal and state regulations as well as the drug and alcohol policy.

Under her supervision, when a driver returns from a trip, the vehicles undergo post-trip inspections, checks and scheduled maintenance as well as tire checks and washings. All write ups are completed and signed off on and then turned into Wolfe for review.

The company has seen its CSA performance improve and has been recognized by customers and brokers for its service and safety. SFS placed first for fleet safety under the Tennessee Trucking Association for 0-3 million miles in 2015 and have been named a preferred carrier by Eastman Chemical for two straight years.

“I never really expected to get into trucking. My sisters have always been my role models, they worked for my dad in trucking for many years and when he retired from trucking in 2011 I never expected him to get back in it and then he started our company in March 2012 with 5 trucks, we now are at 48," said Wolfe. “Having him to look up to has given me a lot of opportunities that many people getting into trucking probably wouldn't have. I appreciate everybody that I've met and I appreciate the whole experience in general, so thank you all.”

The Fleet Safety Conference is currently under way at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel in Schaumburg, Ill. For more information on the Fleet Safety Conference, visit the website here.

Related: 2015 Safety and Compliance Award Winner Announced

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ATA: Truck Tonnage Index falls 1.5% in June

American Trucking Assns.' advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.5% in June, following a revised 2.9% gain during May. In June, the index equaled 137.2 (2000=100), down from 139.3 in May. The all-time high was 144 in February, ATA reports.

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Bendix Expands Formula Blue Hydraulic Brake Parts Line

Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake is expanding coverage of its Formula Blue line of hydraulic brake parts for light- and medium-duty vehicles ranging from Class 1 to Class 6.

BSFB recently added 100 new part numbers and plans to introduce additional parts every quarter. The expansion increases Formula Blue's medium-duty lineup adding new parts covering a range of name plates including Ford, Freightliner, Hino, Kenworth, Mitsubishi Fuso, Navistar, Peterbilt and others.

The Formula Blue line offers more than 6,000 parts including new and remanufactured brake calipers, rotors, and full lines of pads, shoes, brake hardware, drums, master cylinders, and clutch hydraulics.

The 2016 Formula Blue Illustrated Parts Identification Guide is available online, offering a catalog that includes product photographs, dimensions and application information for brake pads, shoes, drums, rotors, wheel cylinders, master cylinders and calipers. The guide allows customers to enter their product type and vehicle model to find the right part for the application.

Formula Blue's improved online access means customers have the most up-to-date parts information at their fingertips, and Bendix is pleased to provide this resource in an environmentally friendly manner," said Keith McComsey, BSFB director, marketing and customer solutions. "With Formula Blue, BSFB has yet another way to serve the commercial vehicle market – allowing us to offer one-stop shopping for all air brake and hydraulic wheel-end needs.”

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Teletrac Navman Director Aimed at Mid-Size Fleet Market

Teletrac Navman has launched a new global software platform, Teletrac Navman Director, which tracks trucks and other assets, collects data for analytics, and provides real-time feedback to drivers to help them improve their safety and fuel efficiency.

The new platform is the end result of harnessing the strengths of combining Teletrac, a U.S.-centric company strong on the fleet enterprise side, and Navman, a global company known for navigation, according to Renaat Ver Eecke, president of Teletrac Navman. In a call with reporters, he said, the new platform reflects “the strength of bringing Teletrac and Navman together, building a platform that will serve the transportation market in a very interesting way.”

The award-winning safety analytics from Teletrac, he said, allow behavioral understanding of drivers, while from Navman we see an emphasis around workflow and analytics.
The new platform is global, he said, while it can handle multiple verticals in different countries, such as trucking and construction.

Director is designed for companies from 50 to 500 vehicles, a market that Teletrac Navman contends is not well serviced by companies currently in the market.

Director offers fuel use tracking, messaging and routing, along with driver behavior analysis tools and concise reporting features. Its safety module, called Safety Analytics, scores driver performance based on company priorities and replays unsafe driving events to aid driver training. Director's dashboards accumulate information to show trends.

"Director brings data about vehicles' location and activity, workflow and forms, real-time maps, maintenance alerts and safety into a single screen to serve as the nerve center for a fleet's operation," said Paresh Nagda, chief technology officer. "This versatility, further enhanced by advanced capabilities such as vehicle diagnostics, visual dashboards and comprehensive reporting, empowers businesses with unparalleled information about their assets and work in the field.”

Director is a completely web-based application for fleets in a variety of industries, from long-haul transportation to construction in markets from North America to Europe, Australia, and Asia, and is scalable to regions around the globe.

Setting it apart from much of the competition, officials say, is that it requires no up-front investment in hardware or installation, but instead is completely subscription-based, with monthly per-truck fees ranging from around $30 to $100 per vehicle, depending on features chosen.

The in-cab device was developed in cooperation with Garmin, while Android and Apple iOS abilities allow fleet managers to access information on the go.

Teletrac Navman is also developing the electronic logging device (ELD) feature, set to launch in early 2017.

Features and capabilities of the platform include:
• Configurable live alerts with email notifications for unauthorized vehicle use, excessive idle time or speeding;
• Workflow and dashboard features for quick assignments and easy job completion analysis;
• Live traffic maps powered by Google and search capabilities by address, site, latitude and longitude coordinates, or points of interest;
• Professional and enterprise reporting for fleet utilization, delivery schedules, driver-based fuel efficiency and safety factors, and maintenance and time management reports; and
• Administrative tools for API support, exporting vehicle summaries, developing configuration templates and managing user access, along with advanced tools for password security, user permissions, logs and activity reports, and Bulk Import Tools for driver and site management.

More information at www.teletracnavman.com.

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Crane collapse closes major NY bridge

Traffic is blocked in both directions on the New York State Thruway after a large crane collapsed on the Tappan Zee Bridge Tuesday afternoon.

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Truck Makers Hit With Record EU Fines for Price-Fixing in Europe

Mercedes-Benz trucks on display in 2012 at a pre-IAA Commercial Vehicle Show event. Daimler, as the largest of the truck makers involved in the EU investigation, also faces the largest fine. Photo by Sven-Erik Lindstrand.

The European Union is fining five truck makers nearly 3 billion euros for acting as a cartel to fix prices of medium and heavy-duty trucks and time the introduction of technologies to comply with emissions rules.

It's the highest fines ever imposed by the EU for a single cartel — twice the previous highest amount, imposed in 2012, according to Margrethe Vestager, the European Union's competition commissioner, in a statement.

MAN (now owned by Volkswagen), Daimler, DAF (owned by Paccar), Iveco and Volvo/Renault, which together account for around nine out of every 10 medium and heavy trucks sold in Europe, had been working together for 14 years, from 1997 until the European Commission's investigation in 2011 put a stop to it.

MAN alerted the EU to the cartel's activities and got full immunity from fines. Volvo/Renault, Daimler and Iveco also cooperated with the EU and had their fines reduced.

Paying the fines

Daimler faces the largest single fine, slightly more than 1 billion euros, also a record.

The five truck producers now have three months to pay the fine. However, the case has been under way for some time and most if not all of the truck makers, including Daimler, Volvo, Paccar, and CNH (parent company of Iveco) had already been setting aside funds to cover the anticipated fines.

Daimler had set aside 600 million euros back in 2014, and last week announced it had set aside 400 million for unspecified legal costs, so it already has accounted for the 1 billion.

For instance, in a press release announcing its settlement with the EU, Volvo noted that its 670 million euro fine is mainly covered by provisions made in 2014 and 2016. However, another provision will have a negative impact of 20 million euros on its third-quarter 2016 operating income.

“The Commission case was already more than five years under way,” said Martin Lundstedt, Volvo President and CEO, of the settlement. “Without the settlement we would have been facing many more years of proceedings, with an uncertain outcome. We are now able to look forward and focus on our business.”

“While we regret what has happened, we are convinced that these events have not impacted our customers,” Lundstedt said.

What happened

Senior managers from the truck makers first met in Brussels in January 1997, and for seven years met frequently, sometimes at trade shows or other events, according to Vestager. Starting in 2004, the cartel was organized at a lower level by the truck producers' subsidiaries in Germany.

According to EU officials, the companies were coordinating with each other on increasing the gross list price of trucks, as well as how to respond to the increasingly strict European emissions standards, when to introduce the new emissions technologies required, as well as the pricing for them.

“Delaying the introduction of environmentally friendly technology in agreement with competitors is not my idea of competition,” Vestager said.

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