Terex Trucks at Hillhouse Quarry Ayr, Scotland

INTERVIEW WITH TEREX TRUCKS

Terex Trucks is a manufacturer of articulated haulers and member of the Volvo Group. Its product range comprises the 28-tonne payload TA300 and the 38-tonne payload TA400. All their haulers are built in the Motherwell facility in Scotland, where their designers, engineers and factory teams give the articulated haulers their undivided attention.

To ensure customers receive excellent service and support, Terex Trucks works with a global network of dealers who provide dedicated service as well as local knowledge and expertise.

Easy Engineering: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?

Terex Trucks: Earlier this year, we launched the Stage V engine TA300 and TA400 articulated haulers in the European market. These machines deliver a better fuel efficiency than ever before, boasting a reduction of up to 7% in fuel consumption when compared to the Stage IV engine. Customers will also benefit from a stronger engine performance and excellent responsive power in all conditions.

Our priority is offering robust and reliable articulated haulers that allow our customers to haul material efficiently at a low cost, and this is what we’ll continue to focus on. Our product development focuses on three aspects: efficiency, performance and low cost of ownership. Terex Trucks has been a member of the Volvo Group for over six years now and in this time, we have made several improvements to increase uptime and cost-efficiency of our haulers.

In the short term we will be focusing on bringing the Stage V articulated haulers to more customers in the European market, as well as increasing our global dealer footprint. We have exciting plans for our product development in the medium term, as we continue to evolve and invest in our products and business.

As a member of the Volvo Group, we are also committed to the Science Based Targets initiative. This means we’re working to reduce our carbon footprint, use resources more efficiently and conduct business more responsibly. We are committed to helping our customers – and the industry at large – to reduce their environmental impact by further improving the fuel-efficiency of our haulers and reducing the emission of exhaust fumes, thus helping to make operators’ sites greener. 

E.E: What is the range of products?

Terex Trucks: We focus on making robust, reliable articulated haulers. Our highly productive haulers are designed to meet the demands of the most extreme operations and are used by mining and quarry operators and in infrastructure and construction projects.

Our 28-tonne (30-ton) TA300 has a maximum payload of 28 tones (30.9 tons) and a headed capacity of 17.5 m³ (22.9 yd³). With the latest transmission upgrade, the TA300 now delivers greater fuel-efficiency as well as enhanced performance and productivity when compared to the previous model. The latest 8-speed transmission also helps to ensure smoother gear shifting and thereby higher levels of operator comfort.

By introducing a long-life transmission fluid, we’ve increased the length of time between maintenance intervals for the TA300 from 1,000 to 4,000 hours, making our customers’ operations even more productive. The TA300’s transmission retardation system is combined with exhaust brakes and fully enclosed oil-cooled multidisc brakes, ensuring a low cost of operation and increased safety and stability in adverse conditions such as steep inclines. All of this means that customers can be more productive, achieving faster cycle times, lower cost per tone and reduce carbon emissions.

We’ve also made improvements to the TA400, our largest articulated hauler on offer, which has a maximum payload of 38 tones (41.9 tons) and a heaped capacity of 23.3 m³ (30.3 yd³). The hauler’s fully adaptable drivetrain and flexible shift schedule allow the machine to operate efficiently in really tough conditions and with lower fuel consumption. The TA400’s planetary gear transmission provides smooth, efficient gear shifting for optimised fuel consumption and reduced cost of operation and has an oil change interval of 6,000 hours. To help keep the machine up and running longer, we’ve also extended the maintenance life of the actuation hydraulic fluid from 2,000 to 4,000 hours. Ground level test points and a fully tilting cab, combined with an electronically raised hood, ensure ease of service and maximum uptime.

E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?

Terex Trucks: After a challenging 2020, we’re now seeing very encouraging signs in the articulated hauler market. Throughout the last quarter of 2020, the market started rebounding, and we expect this upward trend to continue for the rest of the year and anticipate a recovery in 2022.

For Terex Trucks, the European and North American markets are especially important and there are indications that demand for articulated haulers is increasing in these regions. Big construction and infrastructure projects are on the rise, in particular in the US and UK, as the governments in these countries are investing in the construction sector to kick-start the economy. One good example is the HS2 high-speed railway in the UK.

In general, we’ve had a really good order take-up for our new Stage V machines and our order book is strong. We’re currently recruiting new team members to match the increase in production, so we’re expecting a good year.

E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?

Terex Trucks: Customers are increasingly looking to new technologies – such as connectivity – to enhance their productivity, maximize uptime and reduce the costs of their operations. Our Terex Trucks’ Haul Track telematics system allows customers to track and manage their machine’s performance and better control production. By monitoring speeds, dump counts and load cycles of their haulers, customers can improve productivity levels and plan ahead more precisely.

Haul Track also allows operators to easily assess the condition of their haulers, plan maintenance more efficiently and take preventative measures if necessary. All of this helps to maximize uptime and productivity of the machines.

In addition, keeping an eye on the performance of the hauler can also help customers to check if their operators need more operational or safety training.

E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?

Terex Trucks: The current market predictions for 2021 are looking favorable in many of our key markets. As restrictions imposed by the pandemic become lesser, we are seeing many of our customers increasing their production levels, which is driving an increase in demand for construction equipment, such as articulated haulers. We’re expecting infrastructure spending to increase in a few regions, as many governments trying to support their economies’ recovery by investing in big projects.