Mercedes-Benz Arocs takes on plant tyre handling role

Heavy-duty excavation, construction and container handling equipment working on sites, in quarries and at ports throughout the south-east is now being kept rolling by a £180,000 Mercedes-Benz truck built to handle plant tyres and wheel assemblies weighing up to 2.5 tonnes.

The 6×4 Arocs 2640K wears the colours of Commercial Tyres Off Highway, which operates from headquarters in Ashford, Kent. Supplied by south coast Dealer Pentagon Commercials, it is fitted with a high-strength platform body by Euromotive Commercials, of Dover, and a 32 tonne/metre HMF crane with tyre-handling attachment.

Purpose-designed for construction-related applications, the high-riding Arocs is ideally suited to the role. says Pentagon. Commercial Tyres Off Highway’s new flagship has a double-bunk StreamSpace sleeper cab and an advanced 290 kW (394 hp) straight-six engine driving through a Mercedes PowerShift automated transmission. The chassis is also fitted with a 9.0-tonne front axle – uprated from the standard 7.5-tonne item – and ‘super single’ front tyres.

Commercial Tyres Off Highway employs a team of highly-trained technicians who can safely fit tyres up to 2700R49 size. The company supports customers from the civil engineering and construction, mining and aggregates, waste management and shipping sectors, and provides tyre services for earthmovers, loading shovels, bulldozers, dump trucks, container handlers, reach stackers and a host of other equipment.

It is part of the Eastleigh, Hampshire-based Tructyre Group, which has a network of 22 depots across southern England and provides a full range of tyre services to more than 500 operators who, between them, run in excess of 10,000 trucks and trailers.

Tructyre is a long-established customer of Pentagon Commercials and operates in excess of 100 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 24-hour emergency roadside assistance service vans, as well as a handful of smaller Vito and Citan models, while its distribution division runs a 12 registered 18-tonne Axor.

The new Arocs, however, is Commercial Tyres Off Highway’s first Mercedes-Benz truck. Rather than replacing one of three other trucks, the double-drive 26-tonner represents an extension to the specialist division’s fleet.

Tructyre’s senior operations executive Scott Matthews explained: “We’re now looking to grow the plant tyre business by extending its area of operation further west. This stunning Mercedes-Benz is a real showpiece and is sure to help us attract new customers, while also supporting established ones.

“Despite our close links with Pentagon and Mercedes-Benz we gave several manufacturers the opportunity to tender for this vehicle. Ultimately, though, Pentagon won the order because the Arocs is a brand new product incorporating the latest driveline technology.

“It also looks fantastic on- and off-road, which can only reflect well on our business, while we know from long experience that wherever we are, we can rely on the Mercedes-Benz Dealer Network to provide high-quality, round-the-clock back-up.”