Mercedes-Benz Trucks has saved the best for last: With the presentation of the “king” class of its heavy-duty trucks, Mercedes-Benz today brought its Euro VI offensive to a close. The company is now displaying the heavy-duty Actros SLT and Arocs SLT trucks for the first time. These customized trucks can move up to 250 tons; this enables them to transport wind turbines, for example. The amount of work involved in customizing a truck is enormous, as the vehicle has to be fitted with stronger frames, additional axles, highly efficient cooling systems, a special clutch to help get the truck moving, and a high-performance braking system. And these are only the most important conversion tasks.
Presentation of the new heavy-duty tractors with 625 horsepower
A stationary presentation is being held today at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth. Mercedes-Benz Trucks is displaying an Actros SLT with comfortable air suspension for road use as well as an Arocs SLT with a robust parabolic spring for tough assignments in extreme terrain.
Production of the trucks began in December 2013 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Molsheim, France, which serves as the base of Custom Tailored Trucks, or CTT for short. The plant fulfills even the most unusual wishes of truck customers from all over the world.
Nothing was left to chance during the development of the new Mercedes-Benz SLT. The experts extensively tested every detail, because vehicles in this market segment have to be extremely reliable. The trucks have a total towing weight of 250 tons, and the semi-trailers are often more than 50 meters long. In addition, these vehicles may generally only be driven at night. Despite all of this work and complexity, the number of such extreme-duty transports is steadily increasing. Since 1995, they have tripled in Bavaria, which is the only German state to record the number of these shipments.
Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, is convinced that the new SLT will do a great job even in extreme situations. “Such oversized loads are almost unsurpassed in their complexity,” he says. “We’re putting the most powerful and robust Mercedes-Benz trucks of all time on the road to perform the shipping industry’s toughest jobs. The SLT is tailored to these requirements, down to the last detail.”
The three or four-axle tractors feature Euro VI technology and are powered by the new OM 473 six-cylinder inline engine with 15.6 liters of displacement and 460 kW/625 hp of output. The maximum torque is 3,000 Nm. The 16-speed PowerShift transmission, which is found in no other heavy-duty tractor, enables finely coordinated shifting. The retarder and the engine brake have a combined braking power of 720 kW (979 hp). And that doesn’t even include the power of the normal service brake.
Vehicle conversions: CTT customizes trucks
CTT fulfills all of the customer wishes worldwide that cannot be met by a series-produced truck bearing the Mercedes star. The team in Molsheim performs all of the associated tasks, from providing technical advice to customers to the designing and development of products and the production and assembly of vehicles.
These services are offered not only for the Actros and the Arocs but for all the products that roll off the assembly line at the Wörth plant. As a result, the specialists also convert Antos, Axor, Atego, Econic, and Zetros trucks to meet individual customer specifications for a wide variety of applications. Since the year 2000, the Molsheim plant, which is closely integrated into the Mercedes-Benz Trucks production network, has developed and modified more than 150,000 trucks in accordance with specific customer wishes.
20 percent of trucks produced in Wörth are modified in Molsheim
In his speech at the presentation of the new SLTs, Yaris Pürsün, Head of the Wörth truck plant and of Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, explained how the two plants collaborate. “On average, CTT converts around 20 percent of all of the trucks produced in Wörth. The relocation of truck customizing to Molsheim has greatly reduced the complexity of operations in Wörth, thus increasing our efficiency. At the same time, CTT’s high level of expertise guarantees that vehicles will receive unique, custom-fitted solutions. Molsheim’s motto is: We never say ‘it can’t be done.’ Our employees at the plant fulfill even the most demanding customer wishes,” Pürsün said.
Although the main markets for CTT are within the EU, the customized trucks are on the road worldwide. In recent years, CTT has delivered thousands of customized vehicles to Brazil, China, and Russia respectively. Hundreds of units have also been delivered each year to Australia and Indonesia respectively.
Assembly of components and parts for volume production
The Molsheim plant, which was founded in 1967, covers almost 500,000 m2 and has around 600 employees, 220 of whom work for CTT. The 20,000 m2 of built-up area house several workshops that encompass 65 assembly platforms and two spray booths. In addition to converting and assembling trucks, the plant manufactures a variety of components, focusing on cabs for the Unimog implement carrier and parts for the Wörth plant.
