Finding ways to keep haul truck downtime to a minimum is important to ensure good productivity. Patrick Smith reports.
Haul trucks in use around the world are built tough to handle a wide variety of materials and operating conditions. So keeping haul trucks moving with maximum availability, and finding ways to keep downtime to a possible minimum, is an important part of ensuring good haul truck productivity, says Julian Steinmann, sales specialist, Screening Media and Lining Solutions at
Metso recently used Electra Mining Africa to introduce its haul truck rubber lining solution to the southern African market.
The company says that rubber lining absorbs impact better than steel and reduces noise by an average of 10-15 decibels, the effect of cutting noise in half or more.
It also says that measurements show that a rubber-lined truck bed absorbs up to 95% of the energy from the impact during loading, meaning the vibration is dissipated before reaching other parts of the truck structure, including the operator cabin.
Steinmann says that during loading and unloading, a dump truck bin receives the greatest amount of wear from severe abrasion, while noise and vibrations have their fair share of impact on the operator.
“The Metso haul truck rubber lining is a solution that acts as a barrier to protect the truck bin from the repeated impact and stress of loading and dumping heavy, abrasive material that can cause expensive damage to the box and truck as a whole,” says the company.
“The modular rubber lining system also reduces impact, wear, carry-back and noise.”
Michael Gyberg, global support manager Nordics, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Screening Media and Lining Solutions at Metso, says the Metso rubber lining offers four or more times service life than traditional steel lining.
“In addition, once it is time to make any change-out, only a few individual lining modules need to be replaced.
“You can easily arrange for the quick change-outs when the truck is in the repair centre, say for regular engine maintenance. The result is shorter replacement and installation times compared to steel lining,” says Gyberg, who adds that Metso has also developed a lifting device to ensure safe, reliable, fast and easy installations and maintenance of the haul truck rubber lining.
“The solution’s wear resistance design not only reduces damages to the truck box, but to the truck as a whole. Bearings, transmission, tyres and chassis are protected and the cost of service and damaged equipment is minimised,” adds Steinmann.
Also in Africa,
Headquartered in its newly-opened facility in the capital Luanda, AMQA will also provide factory-approved parts and other essential after-market care services to customers throughout the iron ore, diamonds, and oil-rich country in southern Africa.
“The partnership with Terex Trucks is a great opportunity for AMQA to establish its position as the leading supplier of transport solutions to the mining industry in Angola,” says Adriano David, managing director at AMQA, part of the Ascendum Group, one of the world’s largest suppliers of industrial equipment for construction and infrastructure.
“During the years of the global commodity boom, AMQA delivered a significant number of ADTs to mines in Angola and even became the best seller of articulated haulers in the entire world in 2007. However, with the increased depth of mines, many operations switched to the use of rigid dump trucks, which wasn’t a product we had to offer to customers, until now.”
Over the next few years several major mining projects will open up, especially since it is estimated that as little as 40% of the Angolan mining resources have been identified, and Terex Trucks sees its equipment as a good match for the demanding climate and conditions of the Angolan mining industry.
To complement its existing range of products, AMQA will add all four Terex Trucks’ rigid haulers, the TR45, TR60, TR70, and TR100, as well as its TA250, TA300 and TA400 articulated dump trucks.
“AMQA has made a name for itself as a trusted and established distributor for construction equipment across various sectors of the Angolan market. We are confident that this appointment will mean Terex Trucks is well-represented in the years to come, where we anticipate new and exciting opportunities in Angola’s diamond, gold and iron mining sectors,” says Guy Wilson, EMEA’s sales and marketing director at Terex Trucks.
In the UK, Chepstow Plant International has signed a deal with
Equipment joining the fleet includes the latest in Volvo ADTs from A25G to A40G; wheeled loaders from L45H to L250H, and excavators from EC220E up to the new EC750E.
“Premium brand equipment helps us and our customers in many ways,” says John Corcoran, managing director of Chepstow Plant International.
“It rewards with safety, uptime, fuel efficiency, residual value and image, and I am pleased to say that Volvo equipment now accounts for in excess of 50% of our fleet.”
He says that significant growth and new business opportunities over the last ten years have resulted in the lion’s share of the Chepstow Plant business now operating in multiple quarry locations throughout the UK.
“Working closely with our clients, we have seen a gradual shift in our fleet requirement towards the heavier end of the market. We are already running Volvo EC700 excavators and based on their performance, we are looking forward to getting two new EC750s.”
Also in the UK, the multi-discipline Sirius Group has invested more than £1.6
million (€1.9 million/US$2 million) in new plant and equipment to meet demand from a growing number of projects across the UK, with additions to the company’s 50-strong fleet including five Volvo crawler excavators and three A25G articulated dump trucks.
“It is our first move into Volvo dump trucks, recognising that Volvo is the premier brand in the ADT market,” says Pat Kane, group director at Sirius.
All of the Volvo machines have been supplied with Customer Support Agreements and Volvo’s Uptime Services proactive monitoring system, which allows the company to monitor fuel consumption, idling time and working mode operation, to maximise productivity and minimise downtime and fuel use.
Sirius is also set to install
“We already use machine control on all of the dozers on our fleet and we’re always looking as a business to be at the forefront of what is available, in terms of machine technology and engineering,” says Kane.
They are working across the company’s building, civil engineering, quarrying, and property development divisions.
The Indian rigid dump trucks market continues to gain momentum against a backdrop of ongoing robust growth in cement, quarrying and coal sectors, reports Partha Pratim Basistha.
Looking to cater for demand and strengthen brand presence in the highly competitive Indian market, local and foreign rigid dump trucks manufacturers continue to introduce new products.
“With the launch of the new SRT series, Sany India will be offering mining solutions to the cement, iron, coal, power and construction sectors,” says Deepak Garg, CEO, Sany Heavy Industries India.
“By introducing SRT 55D, Sany India is now well-positioned to offer complete mining solutions and partner with big mining companies in India for end-to-end solutions. The trucks will be largely used in large surface mining sites for transportation of coal overburden, iron ore, limestone, bauxite, and in quarry sectors.”
He says the SRT series trucks feature higher levels of safety, reliability, durability, comfort and cost competitiveness along with less fuel used per tonne, per kilometre delivered by Benz Engines.
“The trucks are equipped with high-strength frame. They have a gross horsepower of 480kW at 1,800rpm, and a payload capacity of 55tonnes.”
Indian heavy and light commercial and passenger vehicle manufacturing major, Mahindra Trucks & Buses (MTBL), has launched its new, 25-31tonne gross vehicle weight Blazo range of rigid dump trucks.
The trucks are powered by fuel-efficient, 7.2litre Mahindra-Power CRDe engines, optimised for combined mode applications, based on the present hauling requirements of the Indian quarries.
“The engines offer different power bands. The multi-mode drive feature of the engine, involving turbo, heavy and light, can be switched by the driver based on the load and condition of the terrain,” says Nalin Mehta, MD and CEO, Mahindra Trucks and Bus Division, MTBL.
