Dick Vijn Transport B.V., based in Zwaagdijk in the Netherlands, operates 170 trucks and 140 trailers. From 16 different customer locations, the company performs dedicated, mostly chilled, distribution in the food and retail sectors. Four trucks are dedicated to overnight flower distribution in Germany.

Like many other European transport companies, Dick Vijn has therefore encountered the German road toll, the Maut. The Maut costs € 0.12 per kilometre for a Euro 3 tractor and a trailer, with a discount of € 0.02 per km for vehicles with lower emissions, i.e., Euro 4 and 5. The discount is available until a new emission limit comes into force. The company is also able to benefit from a 'rebate' incentive offered to hauliers in the Netherlands who operate Euro 4 and 5 trucks.

Dick Vijn's fleet manager, explains the thinking behind the company's decision to invest in a Euro 5 tractor - a Mercedes Benz Actros - which was delivered to the company a few weeks ago, in early October.



Dick Vijn's fleet manager continues...
One of our truck suppliers, Mercedes-Benz, told us that they were the first to be able to deliver a Euro 5 tractor, the Actros. We drove an Actros demo and created a detailed spreadsheet with all the variables which we had to take into account in order to make cost comparisons between our existing fleet (mainly Euro 3 DAFs 85CF3X0) and other available options, e.g., Scania Euro 4 with EGR and Mercedes-Benz Euro 4 and 5 with SCR.

All our suppliers convinced us how good their trucks would be, but with the findings of the demo drive, the comparison sheet and the Maut, the lowest cost option stood out clearly - this was the Mercedes Euro 5 Actros. When we looked also at the effects on the environment, we decided to buy the 1841 Actros Euro 5 (SCR), and in the first week of October 2005 we handed it over to our driver.

On the truck's maiden journey, the driver drove from Venlo in the Netherlands across the border to Germany to deliver flowers. By contacting AdBlue suppliers we knew that the AdBlue supply network was ready to roll out over Germany and that there was availability at the Dutch-German border.

Day 2 A German BAG (commercial transport inspection) car came to drive beside our truck driver to check if he had paid the toll. They fed the truck licence number into their laptops and were concerned when they saw the amount that came up. Our driver was asked to overtake the BAG car and when they saw the AdBlue tank, off they went.

Day 7 After one week the driver needed to fill up the AdBlue tank. His truck has two diesel tanks which together hold 1,050 litres. The AdBlue tank can hold 90 litres. By our reckoning, he should be able to fill up the Ad Blue tank once for every two diesel refuels. The driver filled up on AdBlue at Texaco Schreurs in Venlo (situated on highway 61 into Germany). Filling up was fine but payment was a problem when it became clear that the Texaco Benelux tank card (which covers Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) doesn't cover AdBlue.

Our driver started to regret having a Euro V truck to drive

When our driver came home after his last trip that week, he stopped at Texaco Rijtex/Bolwerk in Nieuweschans (on highway A7 near the border with Germany). AdBlue is also available here, supplied by Air1, but again the Texaco card didn't cover it. Our driver started to regret having a Euro V truck to drive, but paid for the AdBlue himself and we refunded him afterwards.

We had allowed for AdBlue costs of €0.60 per litre

AdBlue prices at the filling stations varied considerably.We had allowed for AdBlue costs of €0.60 per litre (exclusive of VAT and any discount). At Schreurs in Venlo the driver had to pay €0.70 per litre (inclusive of VAT). At Rijtex/Bolwerk the price per litre was €0.58 (inclusive of VAT). At one other station in Noord-Holland, where AdBlue was available only in canisters, the price was €1.50 per litre. We contacted Rijtex and were offered a Rijtex tankcard with an interesting discount.

..even if you add the cost of AdBlue, your fuel consumption savings more than compensate for this.

So far, our brand new truck has been consuming one litre of diesel for every 3.5 kilometres travelled and one litre of AdBlue every 65 kilometres. So the engine is consuming AdBlue at 5.5% of fuel consumption. Again, this is good news for us, because we allowed for AdBlue consumption at a rate of 6% of fuel consumption, and we assumed a decrease in fuel consumption of 3% rather than the actual 5%. So, in simple terms, even if you add the cost of AdBlue, your fuel consumption savings more than compensate for this.

Because the routes in our schedules do not vary much, we don't see it as a problem that there is limited AdBlue availability. We don't know what AdBlue prices are in Germany, but because diesel is more expensive there than in the Netherlands we would not choose to fill up there anyway.

At the moment we are working on our investment plan for new vehicles in 2006. At the latest European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam, all the manufacturers outlined their solutions for compliance with Euro 4 and 5. Scania and MAN, presumably because of market forces, have changed their strategy and are to make SCR models available for Euro 5.

We are considering two options: Euro 3 or Euro 5. Any difficulties with the supply of AdBlue will hopefully soon be over, so we can decide based on what is best for the environment. Euro 4 is not an option for us given the benefits of going straight for Euro V.