Haul truck productivity refers to how efficiently a haul truck transports material from one location to another, typically in an off-highway or industrial setting. It’s measured by the amount of material hauled within a given time, taking into account factors like load capacity, travel time, and efficiency of loading and dumping processes.
According to (Soofastaei et al., 2018), there are several parameter that affect haul trucks productivity as presented in table 1 below.
| Parameter | Detail |
| Truck model and type | Each type and model of the truck has special characteristics, and these can affect haul truck productivity |
| Material | Material which is hauled |
| Bucket density | The density of the material being loaded |
| Swell factor | The swell factor is the volume increase after the material has been disturbed |
| Bucket load | Estimated bucket load that the loading unit can carry in BCM |
| Calculated passes to fill | Estimate of how many bucket loads (passes) is required to fill the truck to its nominal capacity |
| Calculated truck payload | Estimated average payload that the truck will carry after considering all the above factors |
| Load factor | Percentage of truck fill compared to its nominal or rated payload |
| Time per pass | Time taken for a loading unit to complete one pass |
| Load time | Time taken to load the truck |
| Spot time | The time during which the loading unit has the bucket in place to dump, but is waiting for the truck to move into position. Spot time will depend on the truck drivers’ ability and the system of loading. Double-side loading should almost eliminate spot time |
| (Continued) |
| Parameter | Detail |
| Dump time | Time taken for the truck to manoeuvre and dump its load either at a crusher or dump |
| Fixed time | The sum of load, spot and dump time. It is called ‘fixed’ because it is essentially invariable for a truck and loading unit combination |
| Travel time | Time is taken to haul and return the load |
| Cycle time | Round trip time for the truck, it is the sum of fixed, travel and wait times |
| Efficiency | A measure of how much productive time is achieved in 1 h of operating time. The sort of activities that the efficiency factor includes is Clean-up by the loading unit or dozer, Crusher and dump slowdowns, Fuelling, Inspections, Loading unit movement, Operator experience, Under trucking, Unusual delays due to weather |
| Queue factor | Accounts for time lost due to queuing. It is another measure of wait time |
| Productivity | Tonnes of production hauled in an operating hour (t/h)
Productivity = (Efficiency/Cycle time) Truck payload Queuing factor |
| Physical availability | Measure of time available to work divided by calendar time |
| Utilisation | Operating time divided by available time |
| Production | Hourly productivity operating hours |
Reference
Soofastaei, A., Karimpour, E., Knights, P., & Kizil, M. (2018). Energy-Efficient Loading and Hauling Operations (K. Awuah-Offei, Ed.; pp. 121–146). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54199-0_7
