Opinion: Aftermarket Systems Are Fleets’ Achilles’ Heel

This Opinion piece appears in the Feb. 27 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

By Michael Buck

President

MCB Fleet Management Consulting

Aftertreatment systems are unequivocally becoming the Achilles’ heel for all fleets and a leading contender for high cost, load delays and asset downtime. However, there is much more to the root cause of this escalating issue.

Just as the name implies, aftertreatment systems are responsible for cleaning up the exhaust once it leaves the combustion chamber. As in almost anything in life there are trade-offs.

Buck

The ambient air temperature can be 20 below in North Dakota or 110 in Texas, the unit can be pulling a mountain in California or traveling on flatlands of Kansas; however, the temperature in the engine’s combustion chamber must remain optimum for the operational and atmospheric conditions. If it drops below that point, soot is being emitted and collected in the diesel particulate filter. If the temperature exceeds the threshold, poisonous gas is emitted that the selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, system must contend with. The cooling, exhaust gas recirculation, or EGR cooler, and turbocharger systems are all working to maintain that temperature threshold.

The heat and demand placed on these components to meet this need is significant. When a problem exists with the aftertreatment system, the driver is notified immediately via a dash light, and if the problem persists, the engine will be de-rated. However, in many cases — due to pressure to get the asset or driver back on the road or a load to the destination — the technician will jump on the aftertreatment issue and fail to look upstream for the potential root cause. In short, the asset will return to the same problem in very short order.

Additionally, technological advancements have perpetuated the need for scheduled maintenance on injectors, turbos, the SCR doser, DPF and EGR systems and associated componentry.

Doing this scheduled work will reduce your maintenance costs and improve your service to your customers. If the engine is functioning, maintained and operated properly, the aftertreatment system can perform as designed.

However, the root cause of many of today’s aftertreatment issues are not the system themselves. Rather, it is upstream componentry that is struggling to survive in the high-temperature, high-pressure environment to which engines are being subjected.

The use of poor-quality fuel or diesel exhaust fluid can perpetuate additional maintenance and shorten the life of the DPF, injectors, SCR doser and many other components.

Here are a few recommendations that will mitigate these issues:

• Update the preventative maintenance process to include the aftertreatment systems.
• Proactively service the DPF, seventh injector and doser.
• Train the driver to operate equipment properly and to proactively communicate any issue.
• Regularly monitor fuel and DEF quality in the storage tanks and in vehicles’ DEF tanks.
• Increase warranty monitoring and negotiation.
• Train technicians in methodical troubleshooting methods that identify the root cause.

As manufacturers upgrade and streamline aftertreatment systems in order to free up frame space, reduce weight and meet the next phase of regulations, the following opportunities/challenges will be addressed in the very near future:

• Progressive emission standards.
• Greenhouse gas standards.
• Improved oils and lubricants.
• Advanced combustion design.
• Precision combustion timing.
• Active oil temperature control.
• Variable valve timing.

The final factor in the equation is the operator. It has been proven that the operator can have as much as a 35% impact on fuel economy. That is a significant factor in the internal combustion process and also for maintenance cost. For fleets to remain competitive in today’s marketplace the driver must to be trained to proactively communicate all maintenance issues.

For example, if the driver continues to operate a vehicle with an issue on any system it will always lead to higher cost, decreased asset utilization and lower customer service.

This can be overcome with a telematics system that proactively notifies the maintenance and operations departments (if so programed) in order to head off these issues prior to them becoming a service issue. Furthermore, the system can be used to assist in warranty negotiation, hold manufacturers accountable, ward off breakdowns and help determine service component intervals.

As it has been for years, the key is proactive preventative maintenance. Even with these many technological challenges, optimum asset utilization can be achieved with a step-by-step PMI, methodical troubleshooting, accurate data and properly scheduled maintenance intervals that will perpetuate greater asset utilization, increased service to the customer and improve driver morale and retention.

The transportation industry is a leading, not lagging, economic indicator, so a maintenance plan that proactively manages the assets is just as important as a business plan that proactively manages fixed and variable costs.

MCB Fleet Management Consulting, based in St. Simons, Georgia, offers fleet maintenance, procurement, litigation and safety assistance to private, public and corporate fleet operations.