In 2019–20 Sainsbury’s was reviewing the tyre policy on its fuel tanker fleet: articulated tractor units coupled to tanker trailers. It wanted the lowest total cost of ownership, with tyre cost weighed against real-world fuel performance, rather than the cheapest pence-per-kilometre rate. Continental commissioned Dynamon to forecast fuel consumption for each of its proposed tyre policies, using Tyre Analytics.
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Key outcomes
- 2019–20 review of the tyre policy on Sainsbury’s articulated fuel tanker fleet, commissioned from Dynamon by Continental.
- Operation-specific forecasts of fuel consumption for each of Continental’s proposed tyre policies, using the fleet’s own telematics, vehicle data and current fitment.
- Independent evidence of the fuel and total-cost performance of those policies, which Continental could present to Sainsbury’s.
The challenge
On a fuel tanker, tyre rolling resistance is part of the energy the vehicle uses, and so part of its fuel consumption. In 2019–20 Sainsbury’s was reviewing the tyre policy on its fuel tanker fleet: articulated tractor units coupled to tanker trailers. It wanted the lowest total cost of ownership, with tyre cost weighed against real-world fuel performance, rather than the cheapest pence-per-kilometre rate.
Continental needed a forecast of fuel consumption for each of its proposed tyre policies, calculated for this operation.
The fleet
Sainsbury’s is a UK grocery retailer, and food is at the heart of the business. It sells through supermarkets, convenience stores and online. J Sainsbury plc has its registered office in London. Continental, which commissioned the analysis, is a tyre manufacturer headquartered in Hanover, Germany.
The vehicles covered by the analysis are Sainsbury’s articulated fuel tankers: tractor units coupled to tanker trailers.
The approach
Dynamon built a baseline from the tyres currently fitted and the fleet’s telematics and vehicle data, then forecast each of Continental’s proposed tyre policies.
Tyre Analytics models the energy each vehicle uses second by second — aerodynamic drag, tyre rolling resistance, acceleration, hill climbing, and engine and auxiliary losses — from telematics, vehicle configuration and tyre fitment data. That lets it predict how a change of tyre policy would affect fuel consumption and total cost in the fleet’s own operation.
What the analysis showed
The analysis forecast fuel consumption for each of Continental’s proposed tyre policies on Sainsbury’s fuel tankers. It drew on the fleet’s telematics, vehicle configuration and the tyres fitted at the time, so the forecasts described this operation.
Continental could present Sainsbury’s with independent, operation-specific evidence of the fuel and total-cost performance of its proposed policies. Fuel performance could then be weighed against tyre cost, in line with the aim of the lowest total cost of ownership.