BP lubricants are the first choice for bus giant

Keywords: BP, Lubricants

First Manchester, part of FirstGroup (a major bus and train operator), has once again chosen BP Lubricants to help convert a number of its buses to synthetic oils. The move comes as phase two of a drive to improve the cost-efficiency for the company's hardworking fleet of buses by switching from mineral oils to more technologically advanced synthetic engine oils such as BP's Vanellus C8 Ultima.

First Manchester has already converted about 200 buses and will now start to convert 300 more from its fleet of nearly 900. The First Manchester fleet operates from six depots and serves the communities in the northern half of the County of Greater Manchester, including Salford, Eccles, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale,Oldham, Wigan and Manchester's City Centre (Plate 2).

Plate 2 First Manchester is improving cost-efficiency across the fleet, including the company’s flagship low-floor articulated buses, by switching to technologically advanced synthetic engine oils such as BP’s Vanellus C8 Ultima

"We've already seen the benefits after converting the first 200," says Duncan Roberts, Technical Engineer. "It has made the depots easier to organise and cleaner to operate. Fewer bus movements are needed and smaller volumes of waste oil are generated."

To put the benefits for an operator like First Manchester in perspective, the first 200 buses used to need 600 oil changes a year on mineral oils, compared to just 200 changes on synthetics. Fewer oil changes means less waste to dispose of, meaning cleaner depots and easier waste management.

With their ability to reduce oil consumption and run further between oil changes than conventional mineral oils, synthetic engine oils such as Vanellus C8 Ultima are ideal for modem, hard working vehicles such as service buses. However, a cleaner operating area and cost savings from fewer oil changes is only half the story. The added value of synthetic oil lies in its ability to improve fuel consumption. Synthetics have excellent viscosity characteristics as shown in the case of Vanellus C8 Ultima with its superior SAE 5W-40 rating.

The viscosity of mineral oil increases dramatically as soot levels increase,whereas synthetic oils can cope with significantly increased soot levels with an acceptable increase in viscosity. This characteristic, together with the fact that the oil can "stay in grade" (it does not shear down at high mileage)between those longer drain periods, gives synthetics a vital edge over mineral oils. The lower viscosity over a wide temperature range leads to lower drag which in turn could translate into an average fuel saving of some 2-3 per cent. And if the bus uses BP's synthetic oils in the transmission and drive axle as well, the improvement could be as much as five per cent.

Switching to BP synthetic lubricants was a natural choice for FirstGroup,which prides itself on raising the standard of public transport. "We were quick to adopt low-floor vehicles to provide wheelchair and pushchair access. We're also evaluating air conditioning on some buses," explained Duncan Roberts. "We were also the first company in the country to use low-floor articulated buses which can move large numbers of passengers quickly and safely.

"It's our job to provide the best service to our customers, whilst generating a good return on investment. These synthetic oils from BP are a small element of the overall operation, but one that has had an impact on the cost-effectiveness of the fleet."

The 10-month programme to refit the buses will see BP educate First Manchester's staff. FirstGroup have a nationwide fleet of over 8,000 buses and other parts of the organisation such as First PMT which serves parts of Staffordshire and Cheshire, will move to BP synthetics following the success of the developments in Manchester.

"We provide a 5-year cost analysis of the fleet which demonstrates the benefits of switching to synthetics," said Eric Edwards, BP's Business Manager."We also provide a continual monitoring programme to ensure that our customers are receiving maximum benefit from the changeover."

BP's EMPA (Equipment Maintenance through Progressive Analysis) programme monitors individual units to see if further improvements can be made and to check that nothing is going wrong. The buses' engines are monitored every 4 months, the transmission every 8 months and the drive axle every 12 months, so BP may produce reports to the customer on the condition of the units.

Cost savings are worked out on a case by case analysis and do not include added value items such as savings in fuel from increased efficiency or savings on having to replace major components more frequently with non- synthetics.

"First Manchester have continued the move to BP synthetics because we have been able to demonstrate clearly that the long term benefits far outweigh any short term costs," ended EricEdwards.

For more information: Please contact Virginie Bahon, UK Commercial Lubricants Marketing Advisor Tel: +44 1908 853442; Fax +44 1908 853720; E-mail: BahonVM@bp.com, or visit the website: www.bplubricants.co.uk