Heavy Duty Trucking, July 2015

hotline TM gl bal Truckings Worldwide Business Report Testing vocational technology on Mercedes Arocs D aimler recently showed off its new hydraulically operated front wheel drive HAD and the new turbo retarder clutch from Voith on some 20 Mercedes Arocs at a vast quarry in southern Germany HAD provides a hydraulic drive on the front wheels which can be connected at speeds of up to 25 or 30 kph about 15 to 19 mph Hydraulic drive on the front axle is not new in itself but Mercedes has further developed the system Here it was mounted on an ordinary 4x2 tractor with a dump semi trailer loaded to more than 40 tons The trucks were all equipped with the AMT Power Shift3 transmission equivalent to the Detroit DT12 in the U S This Mercedes Aroc handles quarry challenges easily with the help of the optional turbo retarder clutch We started on a slippery uphill and activated the HAD drive with the push of a button The truck started with a hydraulic whining and the situation was handled Likewise when we ran on 4x2 mode into a stop on loose macadam rubble we easily got out with the HAD assistance The turbo retarder clutch is a torque converter in pocket size that is perhaps even more revolutionary than the HAD drive It is placed between a trucks normal friction clutch and the gearbox When starting under load the ordinary clutch engages then becomes passive while the turbo coupling handles start up with the friction of its oil flow The device also acts as a fluid retarder We drove a fully loaded Arocs 8x8 rigid tipper as theyre called in Europe fitted with the new TRC with a gross weight of 40 metric tons or 90000 pounds I could drive uphill with the gear selector in Drive then let the rig roll backwards down the hill and bring it to a stop by stepping on the accelerator then immediately send it climbing With a conventional dry clutch there would at least be a smell of burning facing if not worse Read more at www truckinginfo com MercedesQuarry PHOTO DAIMLER TRUCKS Sven Erik Lindstrand European Editor AROUND THE WORLD China truck market still soft Chinas truck market remained soft in the first quarter with sales of just over 135000 heavy trucks and tractors compared to 162000 a year earlier Thats a drop of more than 33 year over year and 16 quarter over quarter according to the China Commercial Vehicle Outlook published quarterly by ACT Research and Chinas State Information Center Volvo approves HVO diesel After extensive field testing Volvo Trucks has approved a type of renewable diesel called hydrotreated vegetable oils for all its Euro 5 engines and is preparing certifications for its Euro 6 models HVO is produced from renewable raw materials such as vegetable and animal fats from rapeseed oil or abattoir waste for example The fuel can be distributed via existing diesel depots and uses the same type of tanks and pumps as regular diesel It operates like regular diesel can be mixed with regular diesel and reduces CO 2 emissions between 30 and 90 depending on the raw material Reman growing The international remanufacturing industry from 71 countries gathered in RAI Amsterdam last month for ReMaTec2015 It was the biggest to date with 3500 professionals attending and 240 exhibitors from 25 countries 24 HDT JULY 2015 www truckinginfo com