The 150,000th connected Scania: Keeping in touch in a vast country

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Scania Group Press Release / December 1, 2015

Scania’s connected vehicles allow Aconcagua Transportes to keep track of its fleet all over Argentina, the eighth largest country in the world.

Aconcagua Transportes SRL was one of the first companies to test Scania’s Fleet Management System as part of a pilot project in Argentina in 2011. Now four years later, in October 2015, the company has purchased the 150,000th connected truck from Scania.

“Through connectivity we can remotely monitor and learn about the fuel consumption of our trucks and how they are being driven,” explains Managing Partner Pablo Galeano.

Altogether, Aconcagua manages more than 300 vehicles. Since 2010, the company has shown a preference for Scania in line with its ambition of offering ”a leap in quality for clients”, says Alejandro Galeano, Pablo’s brother and co-managing partner.

The Galeano brothers today own 85 Griffin trucks, all with active connected services. After the first reports obtained from the Fleet Management System, Aconcagua decided to limit the speed of the Scania trucks to 84 km/h, resulting in lower downtime, longer tire lifespan and reduced fuel consumption – the latter representing more than 30 percent of operating costs.

Long-distance operation

Aconcagua is headquartered in Avellaneda, a suburb of Buenos Aires. Its clients include mining and oil companies located thousands of kilometres away, even as far as neighbouring Chile. Because of the distances involved and the specificity of the work, with some customers simply transporting goods from one plant to another, many vehicles never even see headquarters.

“But thanks to Scania Fleet Management we are always able to put together a report in which we can see what the truck really did and how much fuel it consumed,” Pablo says.

Preventive maintenance

The vehicles are covered by a repair and maintenance contract and serviced by Scania’s workshop network. “It is the best way to run our business,” Pablo says. “Scania guarantees the repair and availability of our trucks.” Alejandro adds: “And the best thing about Scania is that, by monitoring the fleet, they tell you where the truck is, when it is time for a service, and where the nearest workshop is.”

With help from a Scania service technician, Aconcagua audits its fleet every week. Using remote diagnostics, they can plan workshop visits and schedule preventive maintenance or repairs to avoid the risk of unplanned downtime.

“Another advantage is that connectivity, along with Driver Support, shows drivers’ weak spots, such as using inertia or excessive braking. In some cases, training’s not even necessary, since we can just call them and tell them what they need to improve,” Pablo says.

“We are happy to take delivery of the 150,000th connected Scania truck. Connectivity is vital for us in figuring out what is really going on with our trucks.”

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