Fleet Management Essentials: Selecting the right gear oil for durability and efficiency

Fleet and commercial gear oil, a crucial component in the maintenance of heavy-duty vehicles, plays a pivotal role in ensuring the longevity and efficient performance of a fleet’s transmission systems. This specialised lubricant is designed to cope with the extreme pressures and temperatures encountered in the truck’s gears and bearings, making it an indispensable part of routine vehicle care. This article will delve into the various aspects of truck gear oil, including its types, benefits, and essential considerations for selection and maintenance.

1. Conventional Mineral Oils: This is the traditional gear oil that offers basic protection and is suited for older vehicles operating under normal conditions. They offer shorter drain intervals as compared to synthetic or semi-synthetic oils making them less favourable for hauliers and/or fleet operators which require larger drain intervals
2. Semi-Synthetic Gear Oils: A blend of mineral and synthetic oils, balancing performance and cost-effectiveness. They are mostly suitable for smaller and lighter-loaded vehicles like passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Like conventional mineral oils, they offer shorter drain intervals and aren’t the ideal choice for fleet operators.
3. Synthetic Gear Oil: Featuring chemically engineered molecules and special additives, synthetic gear oil provides enhanced performance, including improved temperature stability and longer service life, making it ideal for trucks operating in extreme conditions or long hauling hours. By reducing friction, enhanced thermal stability and improved operating efficiency, synthetic gear oils help improve fuel economy especially when clubbed with a synthetic fuel economy engine oil. There are 2 types of synthetic gear oils which are as follows:
   • Standard drain interval gear oil: These offer standard drain intervals of 150,000 km – 200,000 km in differentials.
   • Superior/Extended Drain intervals gear oil: These gear oils provide extended drain intervals of 300,000 km-500,000 km in differentials as recommended by OEMs.

Internationally approved and renowned brands like TotalEnergies and Petro-Canada would invest significantly in the R&D of their products to ensure optimum performance and protection to the gearboxes and other crucial components of the vehicle(s)  whereas smaller and more price-sensitive blenders would often sell oils that are blended to the lower levels to keep the costs low. Using a good quality gear oil that goes through stringent testing and is approved by leading OEMs provides a host of benefits, some of which are as follows:

• Reduced Wear and Tear: High-quality gear oils contain special additives that enhance protection against oxidation and corrosion. They form a protective layer on metal surfaces, significantly reducing friction and preventing wear.
• Enhanced Performance: The right gear oil can enhance fuel efficiency and overall vehicle performance by ensuring smooth gear shifts and reducing drag.
• Better Fuel Economy: Fleet operators can experience improved fuel economy by using good-quality gear oils alongside fuel-efficient engine oils.
• Temperature Resistance: Advanced formulations maintain protective properties across a broad temperature range, protecting components in hot and cold environments. This resistance to thermal degradation helps maintain the oil’s lubricating properties for longer periods, reducing the need for frequent oil changes and ensuring consistent performance of the gear/differential systems, which contributes to improved vehicle efficiency.
• Extended Gear Life: A good-quality gear oil can prolong the life of transmission components, leading to lower maintenance costs and downtime. Good-quality gear oils would have special additives to maximise the durability of the components and parts of the driveline equipment of vehicles.

One of the leading ranges of heavy-duty gear oils, as recommended by many of the leading OEMs and carrying approvals from most of the rest of the OEMs, is TotalEnergies’ Traxium range. The Traxium range offers a wide variety of gear and axle oils to suit most gearboxes/differentials/axles and their needs. TotalEnergies’ Traxium Range consists of the following products which are now available from Finol Oils, the Irish distribution partner for TotalEnergies:

1. Traxium Dual 9 FE 75W-90: Extremely high-performance fully-synthetic gear oil, developed for synchronised or non-synchronised manual gearboxes, axles and reduction gears requiring API GL-4, GL-5, MT-1 or MIL-PRF-2105E and MIL-L 2105 D. It offers extended drain intervals and is approved by major OEMs including MAN, DAF, Iveco, Scania, Mercedes, Mack and Volvo which makes it the perfect choice for mixed fleet operators.
2. Traxium Dual 8 FE 80W-90: Based on synthetic technology with a high viscosity index, it is suitable for lubrication of gears and axles under severe conditions of use. It is suitable for the manual transmission of several OEMs such as MAN, DAF, Iveco, Scania and Renault Trucks with drain intervals recommended by the manufacturer.
3. Traxium Gear 9 FE 75W-90: Fully synthetic gear oil with high-performance, developed for truck gearboxes, especially Mercedes Benz and carries Mercedes-Benz Trucks:DTFR 13B110 (235.11) approval. TotalEnergies’ fuel economy technology allows for reduced fuel consumption in comparison with standard lubricants.
4. Traxium Gear 9 FE 75W-80: This lubricant is particularly suited for the latest ZF gearboxes with Carbon synchronization (ZF TE-ML 01E) and for ZF gearboxes with Molybdenum synchronization (ZF TE-ML 02E). Because of its fuel economy properties and approvals from different major OEMs like Man, Mercedes, Voith, Volvo, Iveco etc. it is ideal choice for a high-quality gear oil for mixed fleet operators.
5. Traxium Gear 7 80W-90: Designed for synchronized and non-synchronized gearboxes, mild loaded axles, transfer boxes and all gears requiring MIL-L-2105 or API GL-4 level. It is approved by ZF for the lubrication of their gearboxes (without intarder) with standard drain interval.
6. Traxium Axle 8 80W-140: High-performance multigrade oil designed for the lubrication of severely loaded hypoid axles and final reduction, requiring API GL-5 or API MT-1 levels of performance. It is particularly suitable for the lubrication axles from Scania and ZF. It is also suitable for Renault Trucks, Volvo and Iveco axles

To learn more about this range, please contact us at fleet@finol.ie.

Similar articles you may find interesting:

• Volvo’s VCS-2 Coolant
• Actioil Diesel System Treatment: Get complete peace of mind
• Rubia Optima 5100 XFE 5W-20 
• Reduce Fleet Maintenance & Running Costs
• Importance of Coolant in Fleet Maintenance