Favourite picture: The Actros in Saudi Arabia

The sun flickers over the horizon. The desert starts just a few kilometres away. It is late afternoon. Yet the thermometer reads 41 degrees Celsius in the shade. It hasn't rained around here in years. It is scree not vegetation that dominates the scene. And sand as far as the eye can see. The fully laden 40-tonne vehicle thunders across the desert track. It is an Actros 4040 6x4 (Actros 2, model year 2003) that is only available in Saudi Arabia. The originally white paintwork is stained beige from constant use in fine desert sand. The truck has an extra load of 30 tonnes – the Actros is known for its overload capability in this part of the world too. The material in the tipper body, produced by breaking up boulders in a crusher ten kilometres inland, is needed to extend a motorway.

"The geography, dimensions and climate of our country pose the hardest requirements for heavy-duty trucks", explains Ali Al-Ayuni, manager of the Al-Ayuni company with the white trucks. "After all, we have schedules to keep to and plenty of running costs. Which is why we only use Mercedes-Benz trucks."

Saudi Arabia is more than six times the size of Germany. In summer, temperatures can climb to over 50 degrees Celsius.

Photos: Moritz Schmid

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