[byomjeet]

Saw this cute and at the same time robust TATA RX Pickup in one of the tanker making workshops near Cuttack (Odisha). I loved it really. These pickups are converted into 1000 Ltrs. Diesel tankers.

The tankers are being made for ESSAR probably for their construction sites to refuel construction equipments like cranes, DG sets etc. One can notice the fueling meter installed inside a box made from GI sheet.

Please bear with me for the quality of photographs as I have taken these using my mobile phone.

[Mr.Boss]

Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Petroleum carriers should have a di-pole wiring (no -ve earthing) as mandatory right? (May be ABS too) Does this pick-up truck comes with these features?

[tharian]

For sure it is a cute tanker. Reminds me of the Tata 407 petroleum tanker when I first saw it. Will try a post a picture here.

Also, isn't the exhaust pipe supposed to be re-routed to the front or is that work pending.

[byomjeet]

I havent enquired about the wiring, but the exhaust pipe is going to be routed to the front, I was told.

[esteem_lover]

Compared to the general oil tankers which have 20% engine and cab space and 80% tank space, this one seems to be like 70-30 in favour of the engine-cab.

P.S.. Are we still "Blowing" horns out there

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by byomjeet

Saw this cute and at the same time robust TATA RX Pickup in one of the tanker making workshops near Cuttack (Odisha)...

Thank you for sharing this. I liked it very much too. I hope they'll cover up all the exposed surfaces with a liberal coat of white paint.
And from an obtuse angle - was just imagining from a different perspective, that if one were to buy this lil' fella and use it as a long distance runner with that 1K litre extended fuel tank feeding the original fuel tank and engine - what a range it would have along with the 60 Lts of the original tank ! At a FE of around 14 KMPL it should be able to do a run of 14,840 KMs non stop. Leh and back on a single tankful from Mumbai. Or a complete GQ run - twice perhaps.
On that dream run I would, of course, remove the 'Blow Horn' advice and replace it with a 'OK Tata Bye Bye' cheerfulness.
Possibilities !

[vikram_d]

Such tankers are normally used by fuel stations for door delivery of fuel. I get fuel for my office generator in one such tanker mounted on a Tata 407 truck from a neighborhood fuel station. Also as byomjeet mentioned useful for construction equipment.

[byomjeet]

Originally Posted by Guderian

And from an obtuse angle - was just imagining from a different perspective, that if one were to buy this lil' fella and use it as a long distance runner with that 1K litre extended fuel tank feeding the original fuel tank and engine - what a range it would have along with the 60 Lts of the original tank ! At a FE of around 14 KMPL it should be able to do a run of 14,840 KMs non stop. Leh and back on a single tankful from Mumbai. Or a complete GQ run - twice perhaps.
On that dream run I would, of course, remove the 'Blow Horn' advice and replace it with a 'OK Tata Bye Bye' cheerfulness.
Possibilities !

Nice idea really. One can go from Kanyakumari to Kashmir without even refueling the vehicle. We only have to frequently refuel ourselves.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by Guderian

...- what a range it would have along with the 60 Lts of the original tank ! At a FE of around 14 KMPL it should be able to do a run of 14,840 KMs non stop. Leh and back on a single tankful from Mumbai. Or a complete GQ run - twice perhaps....

This is common site with trucks where they have additional fuel tank of min 400 to max 600 litres in addition to extending OE tanks to 400 litres. They fill the fuel in their own fuel station in native and make a round trip between Mumbai - Chennai or even Delhi - Chennai.

Also in case of buses in Delhi which is used for site seeing, they have dual fuel tank with each capacity min 400 litres sufficient to make a Delhi - Agra - Jaipur - Delhi trip.

The cost of saving in fuel because of this practice is min Rs.1 to 1.5/ litre, turning to Rs. 1000 to 1500 per trip.

New Tata 2518 making its maiden trip


RHS - 500 litres


LHS - 400 litres


Ashok Leyland 1616. This is on LHS. Tank is doubled to 500 litres and similar capacity tank is fitted on RHS.

Originally Posted by byomjeet

Nice idea really. One can go from Kanyakumari to Kashmir without even refueling the vehicle. We only have to frequently refuel ourselves.

KPN and Rathimeena have this type of refueling trucks based on Ecomet. They bring fuel from their pumps and feed to their buses at Omni bus stand.

[turbospooler]

The 207 rx has 1.1 tonne payload including the OE load body. Stripping the load body as was done in this must increase capacity to approx 1.3 tonnes. But just 1000 litres of diesel of density 0.861 gm/cc. This means 0.861 tonne of payload. There must be scope for further optimising payload.

Off-topic: Such a similar equipment must be used for door delivery of water instead of the big tankers which cause splashing of water and thus wastage.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

The cost of saving in fuel because of this practice is min Rs.1 to 1.5/ litre, turning to Rs. 1000 to 1500 per trip.

With the increased size of existing tank / additional tank, when fully filled with diesel, the gross weight of the truck will increase and that will reduce the fuel efficiency. So in effect the savings will be less. It makes sense in some cases, but not sure Mumbai-Chennai is one such case, where there are plenty of diesel pumps available on the way.
This is some thing designers worry while designing passenger cars, what should be the optimum capacity of the fuel tank, higher capacity/higher range vs higher fuel efficiency.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

With the increased size of existing tank / additional tank, when fully filled with diesel, the gross weight of the truck will increase and that will reduce the fuel efficiency. So in effect the savings will be less. It makes sense in some cases, but not sure Mumbai-Chennai is one such case, where there are plenty of diesel pumps available on the way.
This is some thing designers worry while designing passenger cars, what should be the optimum capacity of the fuel tank, higher capacity/higher range vs higher fuel efficiency.

In actual scenario, there is no much of logic behind reduction in fuel performance due to additional fuel tank and thereby increase in GVW. With additional 600 litres it translates to less than half of a ton, which will have nil effect in fuel performance.
Its known fact that there are lot of fuel pumps between, Mumbai - Chennai, but no one gives diesel at the cost price for them in their own pump.

Between Delhi and Chennai, the diesel price difference is Rs. 3.11 (Che - 51.78 , Delhi - 48.67). By filling 1000 litres in Delhi, he can straight sway save Rs.3110.
Truck rental / ton between Delhi and chennai may vary between 3500 to 3900. And for a 10T of load carried, the savings is upto 8% of revenue.

Also these scenario are the prevailing in specific markets and not not hypothetical.

[Rajain]

Hi

There are quite a few vehicles which have a long range (much like the ER aircrafts). Volvo B9R has a 300x2 tank. Giving 3kmpl it has a range of 1800 kms. I am informed most Ashok Leyland trucks come with 300x2 tanks these days.

In the SUV/Car side I think the largest tank capacity is that of Pajero (92 lts). There used to be a Tourag model with 100 ltrs capacity. Land Cruiser also has a huge capacity. I think LC 200 has 100 + 45 ltr capacity. Fortuner comes with 80 ltrs capacity and a range of close to 1000 kms. Ford Endy/XUV/Evalia and some of the Merc/BMW are in 70-80 ltrs range as well. Obviously a larger engine is needed when there is extra weight of fuel.

Of course, this one is a delivery vehicle for high users like Malls/Housing complexes/industries/business parks/airports and the like.

Cheers

[slicvic]

Originally Posted by byomjeet

The tankers are being made for ESSAR probably for their construction sites to refuel construction equipments like cranes, DG sets etc.

There would be some Harley 48 owners willing to buy it i guess

Sorry for the Couldn't resist

[Sameer_Gupta]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Such tankers are normally used by fuel stations for door delivery of fuel. I get fuel for my office generator in one such tanker mounted on a Tata 407 truck from a neighborhood fuel station. Also as byomjeet mentioned useful for construction equipment.

Righto. Guess these tankers used for fueling the DG sets powering thousands of telecom sites in rural and far flung areas.
And the reason behind the limiting the tanker size to 1000 ltrs. - Because anything larger would require owners/ operators of these tankers to have an explosives license.