Wait until you hear what we have in store!

Truck Test 2016 will be like none that have gone before. Simply put, we’re taking the rule book and tossing it out …

“Come one, come all!” is the call for Truck Test 2016. That’s right, for the fifth annual Truck Test we are opening the entries to anyone and everyone – provided the vehicles entered gross more than 3,5 t.

This means that, for the first time in Truck Test history, short-, medium- and long-haul vehicles will run in the same event and, crucially, the comparison aspect will fall away. Manufacturers will be left with scientific data that they can use for benchmarking the particular vehicles they decide to enter.

Hellberg Transport Management’s Martin Dammann will, once again, coordinate the event, scheduled for April 20 and 21, 2016 (with a mandatory pre-test the week before, on April 13 and 14, 2016).

“There is great value in this format for vehicle manufacturers. From the discussions I’ve had, many of them have said they want performance data of their vehicles to show customers – to set a benchmark,” he explains.

This vastly revised format will obviously require different routes for the different categories of vehicles. The organisers will prescribe short-, medium- and long-haul on-road routes to simulate the every-day running conditions of the various vehicles.

“This is more representative of real-life operations than running simulations at the Gerotek testing facility. Factors such as traffic will have a far smaller influence on the results than in previous tests, because we’ve taken away the comparison aspect,” Dammann says.

In opening up the segments, vehicle manufacturers will be free to innovate. They may simply choose to enter the most popular models within their range. They may choose what trailers they pull and what loads these carry.

The same vehicle can be entered in manual and automatic/automated-manual transmission guises, to illustrate the differences between these transmission options. Alternative-fuelled and hybrid vehicles are also welcome should any manufacturers want to show off the capability of these vehicles.

Comprehensive specifications will be published with each vehicle’s results; so that operators know exactly what the results mean to them.

“Truck Test 2016 will definitely be of interest to South African transport operators and the manufacturers alike,” says Dammann. “Specifications and results will be presented in an open and honest way and an operator running a particular vehicle with a particular load will be able to accurately compare the figures of his own fleet with those of the test vehicles.”

With an expected field size twice that of any prior event, Truck Test 2016 will be the biggest, best and most relevant yet. The idea, as Dammann sums up, is to “bring what you want, and we will test it!”