• The new truck offers a trailer load of 1,000 tons, with the possibility of a gross combination weight of well over that.
• The Mercedes-Benz heavy-duty truck produced for the Viktor Baumann company is the first truck in the Arocs model series with all-wheel drive and a wide cab.
• The Mercedes-Benz Molsheim plant equipped the truck with the required standard equipment for extreme transportation tasks.
• The company Paul Nutzfahrzeuge converted the trucks to include a wide cab.
• In future, this unique truck will push forward the energy transition by transporting transformers and heat exchangers.

Leinfelden-Echterdingen/Wörth am Rhein – Mercedes-Benz Trucks has delivered a specially converted truck for heavy-duty transport (SLT) to the Viktor Baumann company. The maximum trailer load of the new Arocs SLT 4463 AS 8x6 is 1,000 tons. For the transportation of such particularly large loads, the truck will drive in combination with several coupled trucks. The gross combination weight, as the combined weight of all pushing and pulling vehicles and the freight is called, can thus be significantly above 1,000 tons. Viktor Baumann specializes in such applications. In the future, the heavy-duty transport company will use their new truck for the transportation of transformers and heat exchangers.

The Arocs SLT 4463 AS 8x6 is the only all-wheel drive truck in the Arocs model series with a wide cab. The retrofitted BigSpace cab enables two-man operation during long assignments. This important step in the conversion process was done by the Paul Nutzfahrzeuge company. Also involved in the conversion of the vehicle were the Mercedes-Benz Trucks contract partner RKG TruckService, the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant and the Mercedes-Benz Molsheim conversion plant.

Ronald Ott (Head of Sales Mercedes-Benz Trucks & FUSO Germany): "Today we are handing over a vehicle that sets new standards in heavy-duty transport after several months of conversion. Thanks to the excellent cooperation of all partners involved, we are confident that this heavy-duty truck will convince on every lane meter and offer a very comfortable workplace for the driver."

Matthias Kirschner (Fleet Manager at Viktor Baumann): "With such a truck in our fleet, there is practically nothing that would be too big or too heavy for us. The conversion companies have done an excellent job here and have delivered exactly what we wanted."

A special truck for special tasks

In the extreme heavy-duty applications of Baumann, two, three or more trucks coupled together pull a multi-axle platform, such as a low loader or a girder bridge, from the front, while another truck pushes from the rear. The new Mercedes-Benz Arocs SLT 4463 AS 8x6 with a trailer load of up to 1,000 tons on the trailer coupling is intended as the last towing vehicle and thus as a link to the trailer. The transportation of such loads is necessary, for example, to bring heavy and large, non-divisible goods such as heat exchangers or current transformers to their destination.

The vehicle already had a reinforced frame and the appropriate drivetrain ex works. With a retrofitted leading axle, installed heavy-duty couplings at the front and rear and the heavy-duty slider, the technical prerequisites for heavy-duty operations were created at the Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Molsheim. In order to get more pressure on the wheels and thus increase traction, a so-called ballast platform was installed at Paul Nutzfahrzeuge in Lower Bavaria. The Paul conversion team also implemented the extensive conversion to the wide cab.

Handover to heavy-duty specialist Viktor Baumann GmbH

In mid-October 2023 just under a year after production of the initial vehicle, the specially converted truck returned to Wörth am Rhein. On time for handover, specialists from TÜV approved the special-purpose vehicle in accordance with §13 EG-FGV. The vehicle is therefore immediately ready for use and, right after handover, rolls along the Rhine to Viktor Baumann’s headquarters between Bonn and Cologne.

With more than 130 years of experience, the Viktor Baumann considers itself one of the leading heavy-duty specialists in Germany. At Baumann headquarters, the team is already planning for the coming transport operation using the strong new addition to its fleet. Upcoming routes are calculated to the centimeter, with special attention to key points such as bridges, tight curves or inclines. As soon as all the necessary approvals have been obtained, the new, 625 hp Mercedes-Benz Arocs SLT 4463 AS 8x6 will be on the road for the first time. Most likely, it will drive at night, coupled with other trucks reaching a gross combination weight of up to well over 1,000 tons.

Conversion steps in detail

Special customer requests are implemented by the Mercedes-Benz Custom Tailored Trucks (CTT) business organization in the largest conversion plant of Mercedes-Benz Trucks. At the factory in Molsheim, France, the vehicle received an additional axle with and thus became an 8x6 four-axle vehicle. In addition, the retrofitting included fifth-wheel coupling, heavy-duty slider, and the heavy-duty trailer couplings. At the front, the heavy-duty coupling Rockinger type 56e is mounted. At the rear, the customer can mount the Rockinger type RO58E 1000-ton trailer coupling. Behind the cab a rear-mounted cooling system was installed, as well as a 900-liter fuel tank and the hydraulic system for the semitrailer steering. After around 14 weeks, the prerequisites for the heavy-duty tractor unit were met and the conversion in Molsheim was completed.

As an important partner of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Paul Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH takes care of the body and conversion of commercial vehicles and supplies solutions for special-purpose vehicles. In the heavy-duty truck for Baumann, the conversion team from Paul replaced the StreamSpace cab with a width of 2.3 meters with the wide BigSpace cab with a width of 2.5 meters. The new cab has a small engine tunnel of approx. 100 mm in order not to exceed the permissible overall height of four meters. For this purpose, the vehicle has also been lowered at the front. As a result of the cab replacement, the interior equipment had to be adapted, including the instrument panel, bed and drawers. The Paul company also installed an additional tower with stowage boxes behind the cab and mounted the ballast platform from the Greiner company. A total of approx. 9,500 parts were newly installed or replaced. In order to maintain the character and properties of a truck with the famous star, as many Mercedes-Benz Trucks series components as possible were used for this special order. The implementation of these conversion steps took around four months.