DALLAS - Valvoline, a leading brand of fuel-efficient truck engine oils, lubricants and chemicals, is teaming up with tiwi, an innovator in telematics and driver-mentoring systems, to launch the first and only program proven to deliver better fleet fuel mileage, backed with an exclusive limited Fuel Proof Guarantee.
The Fuel Proof Guarantee covers a 120-day customer demonstration period and is being offered to fleet operators with a minimum demo of 30 trucks. Valvoline and tiwi work with fleet maintenance managers to establish baseline data, using the tiwi(TM) onboard system. Valvoline's Premium Blue(R) Extreme engine oil and Syn Gard(TM) FE gear oil are then installed. Additionally, the tiwi verbal-coaching system is activated to provide drivers with real-time verbal mentoring about speeding violations, aggressive driving, other inefficient habits, seat belt use and more.
After the completion of the Fuel Proof customer demonstration period, if the fleet has not shown an increase in fuel economy, Valvoline and tiwi will remove their products from the vehicles used in the demonstration and reimburse the fleet for any incremental costs.
Unlike competitive mpg claims with vague or unsubstantiated data, Valvoline enlisted two independent test facilities and multiple real-life customers to validate miles-per-gallon (mpg) gains, using the EPA SmartWay(SM) certified J1321 protocol. Tests were conducted with vehicles operating with Valvoline's Premium Blue Extreme SAE 5W-40 full synthetic engine oil and Syn Gard FE gear oil. Results varied depending on loads, routes and drivers. Less-than-truckload applications and P&D operations achieved the highest fuel economy improvement. Adding tiwi vehicle monitoring and driver mentoring is expected to yield greater gains in virtually every type of fleet operation.
John Noal, Vice President - International and Commercial Platforms for The Valvoline Company, explains the need for a mileage improvement guarantee. "Fleet customers are understandably highly skeptical about mpg claims. They need proof that they're going to get better mpg with their own drivers, in their own operations. The limited Fuel Proof Guarantee is a risk-free way for fleets to prove that our mpg gains are for real."
Todd Follmer, Chief Executive Officer for tiwi, noted, "According to EPA statistics, driving habits affect mpg by as much as 35 percent. Fleet testing has proven that using tiwi in-vehicle mentoring will decrease aggressive driving events by 89 percent and speeding violations by 86 percent. The EPA reports that simply obeying posted speed limits will increase fuel efficiency by as much as 23 percent."
Contact information and test data are available at www.fuelproofguarantee.com.
