News from Mercedes-Benz: Merseyside’s first Mercedes-Benz Arocs is already delivering valuable fuel savings for Widnes-based Grundy & Co Excavations.
Supplied by Liverpool Dealer Road Range, the 8×4 Arocs 3240 is returning more than nine mpg – a full two mpg better than the 30 other eight-wheeled tippers on the company’s fleet.
The new truck is Grundy’s first Mercedes-Benz and was ordered, says Managing Director Kevin Grundy, after a concerted effort by Road Range Sales Executive Richie Rainford.
“I’ve known Richie for many years and he’s been working hard to get into our fleet for most of that time,” says Mr Grundy. “Now, with its Euro-6 Arocs range, Mercedes-Benz has a product that looks like a perfect fit for our application. We needed an extra truck to cope with growing demand so decided it was time to try one out.
“I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen so far. It’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into the design and the truck meets all the criteria we look for. The raised ride height means ground clearance is excellent and everything that could be damaged is well out of harm’s way. Traction is excellent too, while features like the automated transmission’s Rocking mode mean it will easily cope with rough terrain on construction sites.
“So the Arocs is ‘fit for purpose’, but that’s to be expected,” he continues. “The fuel consumption, though, is a real eye-opener. In this application six to seven mpg is considered the norm, but the Arocs is returning nine and ten mpg – which puts it a good two mpg ahead of our other eight-wheelers.
“Fuel consumption is not quite as critical in this application as it is for the haulage sector, but an improvement of this magnitude, if replicated over a fleet of 30 trucks, could make a very significant difference to our ‘bottom line’.”
Grundy & Co Excavations provides a muckaway service, then crushes, washes and grades collected material and supplies aggregates back to construction and civil engineering sites within a 25-mile radius of Widnes.
Powered by a 394 hp 10.7-litre engine, the company’s new Arocs is fitted with a steel tipping body by Abba Commercials, of St Helens.
The Mercedes-Benz Arocs is ‘The new force in construction’. The range comprises tractors and four-, six- and eight-wheeled rigids, with gross weights from 18 to 250 tonnes. All combine previously unseen levels of performance and efficiency with state-of-the-art Euro-6 engines, driving through Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmissions, which offer mpg savings of up to 5% compared to equivalent, outgoing models.