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Cat 966 XEs save fuel for FCC Environment

UK resource and waste management company FCC Environment has invested in a fleet of Cat 966 XE wheel loaders from Finning UK & Ireland after a trial revealed an annual fuel saving of more than £11,000 per machine.

The data showed that over a six-month period, the machines had achieved fuel savings of 29%. The Finning team held weekly catch-ups with FCC to help the company interpret data provided through the Cat VisionLink software, which monitors machine health. Based on fuel savings of 29%, Finning calculated that over a seven-year life cycle, and with a standard repair and maintenance warranty programme, the machines would collectively deliver savings of more than £250,000 to FCC. 

Bill Stone, Group Plant Manager at FCC Environment said, “On average we order around 11 new Cat machines from Finning every year – and always buy with full repair and maintenance contracts because it provides complete peace of mind that if there are any issues, they will be dealt with swiftly by Finning. For me, it’s the product support that’s a major consideration when buying a new machine. What matters most is that if there’s an issue with a machine – I can rely on Finning to respond within four-hours. We have 500 pieces of plant so it’s vital that we have this reassurance to limit any machine downtime. 

“All manufacturers say that their machine is the best in class for fuel. We decided to put Finning to the test on its claim of between 20 – 30 per cent savings and compared the three new Cat 966 XE wheel loaders against our current Cat 960s and worked out their average litres per hour,” Bill continued. “We were delighted to see fuel savings of 29% so they’ve more than exceeded expectations.

“This fuel saving is crucial. The switch from red to white diesel saw everyone’s fuel costs double, and when you’re paying £1.05 a litre that’s an £11,000 saving per machine. With the cost of fuel expected to continue to rise, we estimate that by the seventh year, the savings will probably be closer to £13,000 per machine.”

Proof in the pudding
Jonathan Davies, Industry Manager Industrial & Waste and Paving at Finning said, “We continue to offer wraparound support to FCC through weekly catch-up calls to help the management team at FCC interrogate the machine data. This combined with the full repair and maintenance contracts held on the machines means FCC is getting the highest level of performance, alongside fuel efficiency and other operational savings. 

Jonathan added, “When you’ve got a quarry working 2000 hours a year every penny counts. During the weekly call with the operations team at FCC, they bring any challenges to the table, and we work collaboratively with them to achieve the efficiencies they need. FCC went through a lot of analysis to see what the XE’s could deliver to their business and the fuel savings provided a compelling case to buy the three new Cat 966 XE wheel loaders. The XE really is a ‘full-fat’ machine with all the latest technology on it and a much more efficient powertrain.”

The Cat XE range is a premium offer across multiple machine classes designed to improve system efficiencies and offer greater precision through enhanced design, inbuilt software and systems. Over the years, Finning has supplied more than 150 Caterpillar machines to FCC because of their reliability and fuel efficiency.

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