Castrol’s Latest Venture Plans to Save You Time, Money AND the Environment

It’s been the brand of choice for everything from Dakar and Formula 1 championship vehicles to record-breaking supersonic jet planes and cars. Having said that, you won’t be surprised to hear that when it comes to liquid Engineering, Castrol is a brand that has been a frontrunner in industry development for over 110 years.

Don’t believe me? Here are a few notches under the belt of the team at Castrol:

• 1913 – Assisted in the First ‘Loop the Loop’ in Aviation History (Piloted by Lincoln J Beachy)
• 1969 – Used to power British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet airliner
• 1995 – First Company to Develop Anti-Sludge Technology prolonging engine life
• 2012 – Used to lubricate Nasa’s Mars Curiosity, Rover

In their latest development, Castrol has set another world first: Carbon Neutral Diesel Engine Oil (Castrol VECTON). At the 2017 Brisbane Truck show, our team got the chance to speak with Kym Grainger, Commercial Marketing Manager for Castrol Australia, about this remarkable achievement…

“We looked at our whole carbon footprint; from where we purchased base oils and additives from, how we produce the product itself in our manufacturing plants, how we transport the product to our customers…even to how they use it and dispose of it.”

“We make sure all the greenhouse gases equate to zero in that process.”

As you might expect, motor vehicles makeup over 75% of Australia’s total emissions output and recently, the Truck and Transporting sector has been put under stern watch on their carbon footprint and operational practices.

With that in mind, you can see why Castrol’s latest environmentally friendly oils come as a breath of fresh air to the industry. Bad puns aside, Castrol has taken into account the competitive nature of today’s trucking industry, understanding the issues of rising fuel and insurance costs. To combat this, their team has worked closely with consumers and manufacturers in developing a range of oils that reduce costs and increase uptime.

Getting into more specifics, the Castrol team have integrated their advanced System 5 Technology™ into the VECTON range, boasting to maximise performance in five key areas:

• Fuel Consumption: Fights oil thickening resulting in better fuel efficiency
• Oil Consumption: Fights piston deposits, resulting in lower oil consumption.
• Oil Drain Interval: Fights contaminants, resulting in longer oil drain intervals.
• Component Life: Fights wear and corrosion, enhancing the life of critical engine components.
• Power: Fights soot, improving engine power all the way through the oil drain.

Most notably, an increase in fuel efficiency is a stand out feature for any fleet manager. Having an oil created to reduce thickening, especially for trucks engaging in long hauls, easily makes VECTON an attractive product of choice.

“When you send trucks out for long, heavy hauls up to 13,000km turn around, you really want peace of mind that they’re running at 100%” Will Shaw, Shaw’s Darwin Transport

For Australian based freight service, Shaw’s Darwin Transport, Castrol VECTON proved to be the perfect fit for their operations. As explained on Castrol’s website; the business runs 37 Kenworth prime movers, and their road trains pull up to 115 tonnes with Cummins Signature and ISX engines and some Detroits—all under the intense Aussie conditions we know and love.

After studying their VECTOR oils in this live case-study, what Castrol found was:

• Both engines did well over 1,000,000km each at maximum load capacities of 49.5% and 51.5% respectively, averaging 1.3km/litre.
• For the first part of their life, both engines ran on Castrol RX Super at 20,000km drain periods. However, Castrol recommended a change to Castrol VECTON Long Drain.
• As a result, the business re-set their drains at 40,000km, allowing them to almost double their operating schedule from 8,500km round trips to an average of 13,000km without compromising on engine durability.
• Other benefits included a reduction in iron wear rates, better soot handling performance, viscosity stability and control of lead wear rates.

“The oil analysis results proved what Castrol said—a big decrease in engine wear metals even after the long drains.”

Nearly doubling a businesses operation schedule is nothing to sneeze at and if you’re serious about improving uptime and efficiency, there seems to be no reason why you wouldn’t enquire to see if Castrol has a Carbon Neutral solution for you.

So what’s next from here for the crew down at Castrol? Other than working to smash land speed racing records, according to Castrol, the entire business is now committed to Carbon Neutrality. Standing up to be one of the first groups to take a leap towards environmentally safer oils is a prime example of why Castrol continues to be an industry leader in so many ways.