September 22, 2017

«There’s just no noise to it. You don’t feel it engage and you also don’t hear it running as much when you’re inside the cab.» Michael Hatt – Operations Manager – Olinger Heavy Hauling

Horton recently released a new case study highlighting the solution for a customer in Missouri with a fleet of 18 trucks, four of which are extreme heavy hauling.

Their fleet regularly travels throughout Canada and often encounters severe weather conditions – including sub-zero temperatures – that test engine parts to their limits. After experiencing cold weather related issues, the company recognized they needed a fan drive with variable-speed technology. One of these issues being that the motor could not hold enough heat to effectively run all its DPF regen cycles, leading to a decrease in fuel efficiency.

Olinger worked with its partners at Horton to switch from the two-speed to a more versatile product, the RCV250 variable-speed fan drive. Offering a wide range of fan speeds, the RCV250 is designed to provide a faster response time and lower off-speed, decreasing parasitic loss to preserve horsepower and provide effective cooling. Most importantly, the drive is effective in colder temperatures, increases fuel efficiency and is maintenance free.

After upgrading their trucks with RCV250s, Olinger began to see immediate results. By providing cooling only when needed, the fan drive brought a 15-percent increases in fuel savings on their T-800 extreme heavy-haul truck. There was also savings in costs and downtime, with checkups typically only requiring blade and hub inspection as the fan drive is zero maintenance and does not require friction liner replacement. Additionally, drivers experienced several benefits including increased temperature consistency and smoother fan engagements and a major reduction of noise.