A hydro-kinetic drive 20-wheeler is destined to revolutionise ore and strip mine operations
By Ed Burrows
IMAGES ETF EUROPEAN TRUCK FACTORY GmbH
Nearing the final stages of assembly is a truck with the potential to make two-axle high payload ore and coal strip mining dumpers as dead as dinosaurs. In the process of bringing it to market, ETF has also created a new business model for mine haul operations.
ETF Number One, a 218-tonne payload capacity MT-240, will be rolled out later this spring and is the first of a batch destined for Brazil. There is no prototype and there will be no pre-production mine or quarry testing. For one thing, at 7.6 m wide, it’s too big to move on the road beyond the confines of the hard-standing of the facility in Germany where assembly is taking place.
Concurrent engineering – design for manufacture using state-of-the-art software and associated simulation techniques – means the design is intended to be right, straight out of the box. And literally so – after comprehensive systems checks it will be disassembled and loaded into 40 ft ISO containers for shipment.
This is not mere expedience. Giant mining trucks are quite often moved from one site to another, invariably in partly dismantled condition, on low-loaders. By disassembling ETF trucks into individual component modules and loading into containers, transportation can take place using regular trucks and without the need for special movement permits. Containerisation also eliminates the need for a production line.
As featured in the May 2014 issue of Trucking. Buy the magazine here
