56%

of premature bearing failures are caused by contamination and inadequate lubrication

More than half of your bearing damage is therefore a lubrication problem, not a bearing problem.

up to 33%

less lubricant consumption

By switching from manual to automatic lubrication. Less grease, precisely dosed, at the right moment.

30 min

per vehicle per maintenance cycle

That’s how much time correct manual lubrication of a commercial vehicle costs. Automation gives that time back to your workshop.

40–60%

of your maintenance costs stem from inadequate lubrication

While lubricants themselves account for only 2 to 3% of your operating costs. A hugely skewed ratio.

Level 1 · Basic

Manual lubrication

The right tool for the points you deliberately keep manual

• SKF Lincoln 1882-E — 20V Li-ion cordless grease gun, for faster and more consistently dosed lubrication rounds in the workshop
• 1142 / 1151 / 1035 — hand grease guns, also with a flexible hose for points only reachable from under the vehicle
• LAGN 120 — grease fitting kit with 120 conical fittings, to standardize lubrication points across your entire fleet

Strong in: low investment, direct control, suited to vehicles with low annual mileage and easily accessible points.

Limits: correct manual lubrication takes about 30 minutes per vehicle per maintenance cycle — and that’s the time when every point is actually reached. Between two rounds the grease film runs dry and contamination gets in; over-grease it instead and you strain the seal and send excess grease onto the street or platform. Manual lubrication swings between too little and too much.

Level 2 · Consolidation

Semi-automatic lubrication

Bringing twenty-five lubrication points down to one

• SSV — progressive divider block, distributes grease from one supply point across multiple outlet points in a fixed, verifiable sequence
• SSVD — adjustable progressive divider block, for when the points need different amounts from one another
• VPK — sectional progressive divider block for larger or mixed bodies
• Armored, canvas, polyamide, steel tubing — pre-filled high-pressure hoses made to measure, plus plastic tubing, protected against stone chip and road salt

What it delivers: a trailer with up to 22 lubrication points is served through one central divider block. Instead of crawling under the vehicle and hunting point by point, your technician lubricates one accessible point on the chassis rail. Distribution is mechanical and forced: if one outlet blocks, the whole block stops.

Ideal for: trailers and semi-trailers with low usage, older vehicles where you’re not ready to go fully automatic yet, and workshops that want to halve the turnaround time of a lubrication round.

Level 3 · Continuous · Most chosen in road transport

Fully automatic lubrication

Lubricating while the vehicle is moving — exactly when the bearing needs it

For road vehicles:

• CLP / PLP / P203 — electrically driven compact grease pumps for the chassis rail or heavy bodies
• KFG — electrically driven grease pump, also as a reservoir and circulation unit
• LMC 2 — control and monitoring unit for progressive and dual-line systems

For rail vehicles:

• SKF EasyRail Compact / LP / HP — wheel-flange lubrication with spray nozzle, pump and curve sensor
• SKF EasyRail Airless — for trams and metros with no compressed air (with electromagnetic PER pumps)
• Wayside systems along the track — WIPER BAR and TOR BAR fed by solar-powered pumps

Why this matters heavily in transport: lubrication happens while the axle is turning. Dosing is fixed, so both running dry and over-greasing disappear. Frequent small doses actively flush dirt, road salt, dust and water out of bushings and bearings, instead of grinding it in. And your technicians no longer need to go under the vehicle for routine lubrication.

Smart detail (trailer with changing tractor units): the system sits on the trailer itself and runs off the brake-light power supply. A controller uses vibration measurement to track how long the trailer has actually been in use.

Level 4 · Data

Connected lubrication (SKF eLube / IoT)

See what your fleet is lubricating, without calling a single vehicle in

• CLP / PLP Smart / P253 Smart — connected grease pumps with three operating modes: time-based, counter-based and progressive cycle-based
• Datalog controller — compact controller enabling data logging and giving the driver control from the cab, readable via Bluetooth
• SKF eLube app — connects automatically to all eLube products in range

What you do with it:

• Read fill level, operating status and mode without lifting or stopping the vehicle
• Spot a blocked line or empty reservoir within minutes instead of at the next round
• Start a test lubrication cycle from your phone, for example at the handover of a retrofit
• View a log of all faults and events; reports are saved automatically

Why this is relevant in transport: a fleet is spread out. The log shows that lubrication happened, when and how much. In a warranty claim (on a kingpin or slew ring), that’s the difference between assuming and proving. For rail there’s SKF Multilog IMx-Rail for rail-certified online condition monitoring.

Tractor-trailer combination

Why critical: a breakdown on the road costs multiples of the repair itself: towing costs, a replacement tractor unit, a missed loading slot and an unhappy customer. At the same time, these are the lubrication points most often skipped, because they sit under the vehicle and the tractor unit is usually out on the road when the round is scheduled.

Critical components: upper and lower kingpins, tie-rod ends, steering arms, cross-shafts of the linkage rods, spring shackle pins, brake camshaft bushings and slack adjusters front and rear, and the fifth wheel — where a correct grease film not only spares the coupling plate but also reduces tire wear.

Indicative number of lubrication points: 20 – 45 on the tractor unit and 10 – 22 on the trailer. (To be validated during the fleet scan; the exact number varies widely by manufacturer and build.)

Typical setup: a progressive system with a CLP or P203 pump on the chassis rail, a primary SSV block with cycle indicator and secondary SSV/SSVD blocks front and rear. Lines in splash zones are sheathed against stone chip and road salt. On mix-and-match combinations, the trailer gets its own unit running off the brake-light power supply.

Refuse trucks and high-cycle body vehicles

Why critical: here it’s not mileage that counts but the number of cycles. A rear loader makes hundreds of pressing and tipping movements per route, always with dirt, moisture and aggressive content in the immediate environment. If the vehicle goes down, the route goes down — and rescheduling a route costs more than the repair.

Critical components: bearings and hinge points of the pressing system, the loading hopper and payload area, hydraulic cylinder eyes, tipping mechanism and tailgate hinges, slew rings on side loaders, plus the classic chassis points of the undercarriage.

Indicative number of lubrication points: 30 – 70 for chassis and body combined. For comparison: SKF alone counts 28 or more points on a tipper. (To be validated during the fleet scan.)

Typical setup: the system can be part of the chassis lubrication or built as a separate unit for the body. A progressive system with CLP or P203, VPK divider blocks for the sectional body, and LGEP 2 or LGHB 2 as the grease — in urban and water-rich environments, LGGB 2 or LGTE 2.

Bus and coach

Why critical: a bus that breaks down leaves passengers stranded. In public transport, lubrication quality is also a comfort issue: squeaking hinges, stiff doors and a slew ring with play are noticed immediately. And at the periodic inspection, the steering and brake components are exactly the first checkpoints.

Critical components: steering knuckle and tie-rod ends, steering arms, spring shackle pins and bushings, brake camshaft bushings and slack adjusters, the slew ring of an articulated bus, and the hinge and guide points of doors, hatches and luggage compartment flaps.

Indicative number of lubrication points: 15 – 40 per vehicle, depending on two or three axles and whether a slew ring is present. (To be validated during the fleet scan.)

Typical setup: depending on the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation, a single-line system on fluid grease, or a progressive system on consistent grease. The pump sits on the chassis frame and stays accessible via the engine hatch, so refilling and inspecting fit into the daily walk-around. All lines are protected against weather and splashing dirt.

Rail vehicle: tram, metro, train set and service rolling stock

Why critical: wear in the wheel-rail contact is the biggest cost item for any rail operator, and it climbs fastest in tight curves. Curve noise adds to that: the stick-slip effect on the railhead causes high-frequency squealing. Both are lubrication problems, each with its own solution: grease on the flange/wheel flange, a friction modifier on the railhead.

Critical components: wheel flanges and wheels, wheelset and bogie bearings, traction motor bearings, slew rings, buffer plates; along the track, the curves and switch areas.

Indicative number of lubrication points: on-board wheel-flange lubrication works with 2 – 4 spray nozzles on the first axle. The complete vehicle indicatively totals 10 – 30 lubrication points. (To be validated during the fleet scan.)

Typical setup: EasyRail Compact or LP for vehicles with compressed air, fitted with LCG3 control and a curve sensor. For rolling stock with no compressed air, there’s EasyRail Airless. To achieve the effect across several vehicles at once, add wayside systems in the curves (WIPER BAR, TOR BAR or SLID).