News: October 2009

New multi-axle MAN vehicles for heavy loads

The MAN TGX 41.540 10x4-6 BLS is the result of cooperation with a conversion partner qualified by MAN Nutzfahrzeuge. The five-axle vehicle will be operated in heavy-duty long-distance transport. The basis for the conversion is a four-axle semitrailer tractor with heavy-duty frame, which was given a steered, air-sprung lifting MAN trailing axle by the firm of ESTEPE in the Netherlands. Distributing the load over five axles increases the permitted load of the semitrailer to 30,305 kilograms. This means that the semitrailer tractor can be registered in Germany with a gross vehicle weight of 44 tonnes: 9 tonnes on the front axle, 7.5 tonnes on the steered leading axle, a maximum of 13 tonnes (technically permissible) on each of the two driven rear axles and 9 tonnes on the trailing axle with its single tyres.

The first of these vehicles was built to order for the Belgian firm Faymonville, which manufactures semitrailers and flatbed trailers for the specialist haulage industry. The firm operates this highly manoeuvrable multi-axle MAN in its rental fleet, Renting Car-WTS. The flagship of the heavy-duty transport range, the MAN TGX 41.680, can also be converted to five axles.

Scania become main supplier to DHL in Europe

Scania has concluded a pan-European agreement with logistics supplier DHL, which will recommend Scania as a supplier of heavy trucks to transporters acting as contractors for DHL. According to Urban Erdtman, Executive Vice President and Head of Scania Sales and Services Management, “this agreement opens the way to sales of 1,000 new trucks per year”. Scania trucks respond to DHL’s norms in terms of load capacity, equipment levels and environmental performance.