DALLAS, Texas — Engine oil manufacturer Valvoline has teamed up with tiwi, a provider of telematics and driver-mentoring systems, to launch a program officials say has been proven to deliver up to 4% fuel savings.

The program is backed by the companies’ Fuel Proof Guarantee, which covers a 120-day customer demonstration period and is being offered to fleet operators with a minimum demo of 30 trucks. Valvoline and tiwi work with fleet maintenance managers to establish baseline data, using the tiwi onboard system. Valvoline’s Premium Blue Extreme engine oil and Syn Gard FE gear oil are then installed. Additionally, the tiwi verbal-coaching system is activated to provide drivers with real-time verbal mentoring about speeding violations, aggressive driving, other inefficient habits, seat belt use and more.

After the completion of the Fuel Proof customer demonstration period, if the fleet has not shown an increase in fuel economy, Valvoline and tiwi will remove their products from the vehicles used in the demonstration and reimburse the fleet for any incremental costs.

Valvoline says its program is set apart from competitive claims that offer vague or unsubstantiated data. As part of the testing process, the company enlisted two independent test facilities and multiple real-life customers to validate miles-per-gallon (mpg) gains, using the EPA SmartWay certified J1321 protocol. Tests were conducted with vehicles operating with Valvoline’s Premium Blue Extreme SAE 5W-40 full synthetic engine oil and Syn Gard FE gear oil. Results varied depending on loads, routes and drivers, according to officials, with less-than-truckload applications and P&D operations achieving the highest fuel economy improvement. However, officials said adding tiwi vehicle monitoring and driver mentoring is expected to yield greater gains in virtually every type of fleet operation.

John Noal, vice-president of international and commercial platforms for Valvoline, explains the need for a mileage improvement guarantee. “Fleet customers are understandably highly skeptical about mpg claims. They need proof that they’re going to get better mpg with their own drivers, in their own operations. The limited Fuel Proof Guarantee is a risk-free way for fleets to prove that our mpg gains are for real.”

Todd Follmer, chief executive for tiwi, noted, “According to EPA statistics, driving habits affect mpg by as much as 35%. Fleet testing has proven that using tiwi in-vehicle mentoring will decrease aggressive driving events by 89% and speeding violations by 86%. The EPA reports that simply obeying posted speed limits will increase fuel efficiency by as much as 23%.”

For more information on the program, look for more detail in the January issue of Truck News.