Milk transport: the Actros 1843 at the Markus Ganser haulage firm

“The areas of Aachen, Düren and the neighbouring border region of Belgium – that’s where we collect our milk for a large Scandinavian dairy. To do this, at Markus Ganser, we rely on collection vehicles and tractor units from Mercedes-Benz. The latest addition to the team is an Actros 1843 StreamSpace which, as part of a customer trial, is equipped with the second generation of the OM 470 engine. We were selected for the test because the engine is pushed to the performance limits here in the Eifel and Ardennes regions. On a relatively short journey, you can climb more than 500 metres in altitude – and that’s often with a full load. Also, annually, we cover up to 450,000 kilometres.

What’s impressive is how economical the second generation of the OM 470 engine is on the mountainous routes. When on the road, it uses up to four litres less fuel per 100 kilometres than an OM 471 of the first generation. What’s more, the new OM 470 is much lighter than a first-generation OM 471 unit. For us, this means: a higher payload. Today, that’s a decisive advantage to tackle the challenges and price pressure current placed on this sector. The continually falling price of milk means that more and more dairy farmers are stopping their operations, which means the collection routes tend to be getting longer.

With 15 employees, on a daily basis we shift around 400,000 litres of milk, which corresponds to around 140 million litres annually. Currently, we operate over an area of around 250 square kilometres around our locations in Hürtgenwald and the imperial city of Aachen. In addition to the impressive driving performance, the extensive safety package with Active Brake Assist 3 and Lane Keeping Assist makes the Actros a reliable colleague on early, late and night shifts alike.”

Alexander Hinzen, Fleet Manager at haulage firm Markus Ganser

Photos: Ralf Kreuels