High-capacity vehicles could be a cost-saver for Eskom
State-owned entities, such as South Africa’s Eskom, should consider using high-capacity vehicles to reduce overall capital costs, says Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) principal research engineer Christopher de Saxe.
A high-capacity vehicle is essentially a vehicle that carries more load than what is conventional for the country in which it operates in, and in South Africa, regulations permit vehicles up to 56 t, and 22 m in length – any vehicle that exceeds this would be considered a high-capacity vehicle.
In a presentation during the South African Transport Conference on July 6, he explained that by using high-capacity vehicles, entities and companies are able to “move more load with fewer trucks” while simultaneously burning less fuel, thereby creating less emissions and resulting in fewer trucks on the road.
In South Africa’s case, in particular, De Saxe noted that it would also reduce road wear, a critical element for consideration as the nation has a road maintenance backlog.
With this in mind, he referred to a performance-based standards (PBS) study being done by the CSIR, which looks to explore alternative public-private models for sharing the cost-saving benefit, including road wear impact savings.
The PBS pilot project is being formalised, he noted, adding that the study authors are hopeful that more coal transporters will participate in the pilot project, as entities – such as Eskom – stand to benefit from using high-capacity vehicles to transport coal, for example.
However, before introducing high-capacity vehicles to the road network, he stressed that it would need to “be done professionally and monitored properly”.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
We supply customers with practical affordable solutions for their testing needs. Our products include benchtop, portable, in-line process control...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Roytec Global is an international company specializing in liquid / solid and mineral separation technologies for the Mining and Industrial sectors.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
