Van Waveren Transport mainly drives tank containers with chemicals and fuels. Four of our 65 trucks drive almost continuously. One of these is a Volvo FH 460 with I-Save. At more than a quarter of a million kilometers per year, I-Save with Turbo Compound engine saves thousands of liters of diesel and saves tons of CO2.
No regular transport
“Of our 65 towing units, 44 are in our own blue color. We use these to drive chemical tank containers mainly in the Benelux, Germany and Antwerp, but also France, Spain and Turkey ”, says Marga van Waveren (director of Van Waveren Transport). “And once in a while it goes to Morocco and even Belarus. That is not regular transport. It is usually because the customer has an urgent order that does not fit in the regular logistics chain. But we have arranged that kind of work very well, also in Scandinavia. The other trucks are used in fuel distribution. ”
Truly a family business
Father Es van Waveren founded the company in 1972. He has now transferred his position to his three daughters. Because in addition to Marga, her sister Annemarie also works in the business and her third sister Esther is co-owner. “We are truly a family business,” says Marga with some pride. “Because my father is retired, but he is still working on technology. My son Rowdy is on the schedule and Robbie Louman, our QHSSE manager (quality, health, safety, security, and environment, red,) is another cousin of mine. ”
Relationship with Volvo important for continuity
Most of the Van Waveren fleet consists of Volvos. “Today we certainly buy them because of the good relationship with the dealer (Volvo Group Truck Center, ed.)”, Say Marga and Robbie. “Our work is often just in time and we do not want to stand still. That’s where the relationship with Volvo is so important. In addition, we preventively replace slightly more parts than you might normally do. But that little bit of extra maintenance pays for itself later. We do not trade in vehicles ”, says Marga.
“Because of that good maintenance in combination with a young license plate because we drive many kilometers per year, the market always knows where to find us quickly when we replace us.”
As much quality as possible in the safest way possible
“We initially chose Volvo because of the many safety options,” Marga says. “The brand is still leading the way. This built-in safety ties in perfectly with our company philosophy. Everything is aimed at delivering as much quality as possible in the safest way possible. Quality and safety go hand in hand in this type of work. But it is also in our company’s genes. For example, we have a SQAS rating of 96 percent. ” SQAS stands for Safety Quality Assessment System. It is an assessment system developed by the industry to check whether a service provider meets the requirements set with regard to organization, quality, safety and the environment. “You can only achieve that with a lot of training for your drivers,” Robbie adds.
ADR and BBS the standard
“With us, ADR and BBS are the standard. Of course, we also provide all code 95 training courses that suit us. But by focusing and steering on the driver’s driving behavior, you actually get an economical driving behavior and CO2 reduction automatically. ”
In the meantime, the focus on safety, the environment and climate, through CO2 reduction, for example, has become a kind of business model. “It brings us continuity. What we notice is that our high SQAS rating makes it easier to get contracts renewed for some clients, ”says Marga. “You are a kind of preferred supplier to other clients. Take this morning: suddenly three tank containers have to go to Turkey. At that customer we have a score of 100 percent on time delivery and that’s why they ask us. ”
Even more economical with new Volvo I-safe engines
The use of Volvo’s new I-Save engines fits seamlessly into that picture. “CO2 reduction is certainly something we focus on,” Marga explains. “If there is a new engine that will allow us to drive 7 percent more efficiently in one go, we will of course be interested in it. Because we use more than 2 million liters of fuel per year. 7 percent less is good for thousands of liters of diesel and therefore tons of CO2. That is why we have now bought four. Expectations were of course high. Because our drivers have always had very good fuel results. It is not without reason that we have won the Volvo Fuel Concept Challenge or the Shell Fuelsave Partnership four years in a row. On top of that, over the past two years a first and second place at TVM’s The Safest Chauffeur of the Netherlands in collaboration with Volvo, among others. And this year alone we have another four Knights of the Road awards. ”
But even at a company that has always driven very economically, it turned out that it could be even better. “Additional training from Volvo Trucks has helped even more. A fuel coach has arrived and has been riding with each of the boys on an I-Save truck for three days, ”says Robbie. “Currently, the average savings that we measure with the I-Save cars is 5.5 percent compared to the rest. And we keep that well. Because in principle every driver has his own car. You know them best. So I think that if our boys with I-Save still drive 5.5 percent better, that on average 7 percent is certainly not an exaggeration.
Insight into fuel savings
How much fuel a 5.5 percent saving is, only becomes really clear when you know that one of those I-Save vehicles drives no less than 264,000 kilometers per year. “We have a total of four in the same work and then you can reasonably compare,” Robbie considers. “Those trucks never get cold. They run around the clock with changing crew and are only stationary a few days a year. In one year we see a saving of 4,000 liters of diesel with I-Save and Turbo Compound compared to the other three. That is also a CO2 reduction of about 10 tons. “
These optimizations are also of value to our drivers
The drivers also enjoy driving the new engines. “What we hear most often is that the truck shifts much less. This is due to the much higher torque in combination with the longer final reduction. The boys experience this as calming, which is further enhanced by the low revs at cruising speed. For us, fewer switches are always nice: there is less splashing and that is worth a lot in this work. ”
