RENA ulT TRuCKS INTERNATIONAl July RENAulT-TRuCKS.COM … · 2014-08-06 · drove a Renault Kerax 370 hp. He then drove a Renault Kerax 400 hp during his first two years as an independent

NEW CALEDONIA:HEAVY DUTY MINEWORKING

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July 2014RENAulT TRuCKS INTERNATIONAl RENAulT-TRuCKS.COM

July

NEW CALEDONIA4 HEAVY DUTY MINEWORKING

PERSIAN GULF8 RENAULT TRUCKS

KEEPS PACE WITH QATAR’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

CONSTRUCTION DAYS12 THE C AND K RANGES

CAN HANDLE ANYTHING

RENAULT TRUCKS C ROAD16 RESILIENCE SERVING

YOUR BUSINESS

OPTIMUM is published by Renault Trucks in over 100 countries and in 18 languages. Publication Director: Chrystèle Chef - [email protected] Contributors: Éric Dumoulin, Catherine Fressoz, Jean-Christophe Hédouin, Tristan de Tedesco. Renault Trucks SAS with a registered capital of €50,000,000 - 954 506 077 RCS lyon. ISSN 2270-499X. Design and production: In Fine. Production control: yvan Cabut, Axel Garioud. Printing control: Valérie Baugey, Gisèle Mannevy. Photos: Renault Trucks, Jean-Claude Dortmann, yann Geoffray, Sören Håkanlind, Marc le Chélard, RR. Printing: Faurite. legal deposit 3rd quarter 2014. Circulation: 145,000 copies. The texts and documents published in this issue may not be reproduced without the editor’s consent. Printed in France on paper made from 60% recycled paper and 40% FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) virgin fibres.

2OPTIMUM_RENAULT TRUCKS

CONTENTS

This new issue of Optimum magazine is all about Renault Trucks

vehicles’ ruggedness, reliability and efficiency.

you will discover how nickel mines are operated on the islands

of New Caledonia. Thanks to the outstanding resilience of their

vehicles and the mobile assistance provided by Renault Trucks,

many owner-drivers work on a daily basis in these

hard-to-access mines.

In Qatar, the new D range has the opportunity of demonstrating

all its qualities, particularly when collecting waste in the city of

Doha. In temperatures of 45°C in the shade, these vehicles are

driven hard 7 days a week to carry out their daily assignments.

you will also learn about the construction and heavy construction

range vehicles in action. Read how 500 customers were brought

together in a quarry where these new vehicles’ resilience and

efficiency could be put to the test under actual operating

conditions over particularly tough terrain.

As for long-distance applications, you will also find out

everything about the new Renault Trucks C Road: a vehicle

specially designed for long-distance haulage on challenging

roads, one which combines the resilience of a construction

site workhorse with the comfort and performance

of a long-distance truck.

By reading these articles, you will see what we want

every one of our customers to benefit from: efficient

vehicles, designed for business and capable

of handling all types of operating conditions.

We hope you enjoy reading this latest issue

and bon voyage.

Bruno BlinPresident of Renault Trucks

RUGGEDNESS AND EFFICIENCY TO THE FORE

EDITORIAL

OPTIMUM_RENAULT TRUCKS3


IN NEW CAlEDONIA, THE RENAulT KERAX TRANSPORTS NICKEl uNDER THE MOST GRuEllING CONDITIONS IMAGINABlE.


New Caledonia is an archipelago of islands covering almost 20,000 km2, the largest being Grande Terre. It is located in the south-west Pacific (Melanesia) and has a population of 250,000.

Nickel, New Caledionia’s primary mineral resource The New Caledonian islands feature areas of high relief. Irrigated by strong and irregular rainfall, they are made up of valleys and mountains, fertile soil, abundant vegitation... and nickel. New Caledonia holds 25% of the world’s reserves of the metal. The world’s 4th largest producer, it is also one of the

leading suppliers of ferronickels used in the production of stainless steels.The abundant quantities of minerals in the soil make mining New Caledonia’s largest economic resource. Some twenty deposits now cross the island from north to south. The environment is rough: stony dirt tracks, steep slopes, sharp bends, fords, etc. The mines are located in the mountains and the minerals have to be carried by truck to the coast for shipping by sea.

A fleet of over 500 Renault KeraxThe Renault Kerax occupies an important place in these harsh operating conditions,

with a fleet of over 500 vehicles on Grand Terre backed by the unflagging support of the Renault Trucks Sodauto dealership. Operating on the island since the 1970s, Sodauto provides onsite mobile assistance with a constant supply of spare parts.This is an important point, for the mining transport island economy is largely made up of owner-drivers, who depend on having their working tool operational at all times. Vehicle reliability and efficiency are the key words here. Two of the owner-drivers who career along these dirt tracks loaded with several dozen tons of ore every day give us an insight into their experience.


Eddy Sautron’s Renault Kerax 8x4 DXi 440 hp driving towards the sea, loaded with ore extracted from the Tontouata mine.


Eddy Sautron is 46 years old. A driver all his life, Eddy began working in mining in 1999 and then started his own business in 2007. Every day, he carries ore extracted from the Tontouata mine in the south of New Caledonia to the sea some 35 kilometres away. He makes 6 round trips a day, covering a total of 400 km between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m.Before setting up on his own, Eddy Sautron drove a Renault Kerax 370 hp. He then drove a Renault Kerax 400 hp during his first two years as an independent driver until he acquired a Renault Kerax 8x4 DXi 440 in 2009. He has now clocked up a total of over 300,000 km. Throughout these years, his vehicle has proved to be reliable under all circumstances, for every kind of application.

40 tonnes downhillEddy Sautron doesn’t give his vehicle an easy time: in his job, he never drives on metalled roads. Instead, he has to face potholed dirt tracks and negotiate fords caused by torrential rain and mineworkings ringed by razor sharp stones... All in a truck carrying almost 40 tonnes of ore that demands highly efficient braking to handle the steep downhill slopes on the mountain roads.

4 months: a tyre’s lifespanIt is under driving conditions such as these that the Renault Kerax’s electrical and hydraulic braking systems come into their own. The brake pedal is only used as a last resort to save the brakes from wear. The

tyres are a different story! For not only do they have to handle the stony ground, but there are also all the twists and turns of the mountain roads to contend with. They have to be changed every 4 or 5 months!Father of 4 children, Eddy Sautron enjoys his work. Even if he describes it as tough and demanding, he has no plans for giving up. On the contrary, for he is thinking of acquiring another Renault Kerax, maybe an XTREM version, while still keeping his current vehicle. Despite having been worked hard since he acquired it in 2009, it will continue to play an important role in bolstering his business.

Eddy Sautron, owner-driver, specialised in carrying nickel


One of the three Renault Kerax 8x4 vehicles in the Philippe Thomas

fleet used exclusively for mineworking.

For the Thomases, mining is part of their family history. Philippe Thomas learnt about the business of transporting ore at the wheel of Berliet GBH and TBH vehicles in the 1970s with his father. At a time when trucks still arrived by ship in sets of parts.

A fleet of 6 Renault Kerax vehiclesIn the meantime, Berliet became Renault Véhicules Industriels and then Renault Trucks. But Philippe’s attachment to trucks with the diamond logo remained the same. Nowadays, the company he manages at Kouaoua, in the eastern part of Grande Terre, employs 19 drivers and operates 6 Renault Kerax vehicles: three for a variety of different uses (a 6x6 tractor, a tipper and a 6x4 tanker sprinkler) and three 8x4 vehicles specifically devoted to mineworking.The work as described by Philippe Thomas is just as demanding for men as it is for machines: they arrive at the mine at 4 a.m. and never get back before 6 p.m. at the earliest. Sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays as well. The days often involve some 10 roundtrips between the mine and the sea, and all of it over “roads” which are not really roads at all...

Reliability and service quality What Philippe Thomas most appreciates about his Renault Kerax vehicles is their controlled fuel consumption, dr iv ing flexibility, pulling power when fully loaded and their excellent braking. Descending from an altitude of more than 1,000 m with deep ravines on either side of the road and almost 50 t of ore in the tipper calls for total confidence in the vehicles’ brakes. Thanks to the hydraulic retarder coupled to the gearbox and an electric retarder on the transmission, 90% of the time the driver does not need to touch the pedal at all, thereby preserving the brakes. under these conditions, they only have to be changed every 7 or 8 years.But for Philippe Thomas, maintaining his operational efficiency also relies on the ties he has with the local Renault Trucks Sodauto dealership. It provides constant and essential support for an activity as demanding as his. When you’re working on an isolated island, being sure you will have your truck back on the road the same day if you have a problem, irrespective of any issues concerning supply of parts or accessing the vehicle wherever it may be, is absolutely vital.

TRISTAN DE TEDESCO

Philippe Thomas, mining handed down from father to son

7 OPTIMUM_RENAULT TRUCKS

PERSIAN GULF:RENAULT TRUCKS KEEPS PACE WITH QATAR’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

ON A MARKET WHERE VEHIClES ARE PuSHED TO THE lIMITS OF THEIR RESIlIENCE, RENAulT TRuCKS STANDS OuT FOR ITS PRODuCTS’ RElIABIlITy AND AFTERSAlES SuPPORT.


With a land area of 11,500 km2 for a population in excess of 2 million, the State of Qatar forms a peninsular in the Persian Gulf and has a land frontier with Saudi Arabia.

The country is headed by Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the heir to a dynasty that has been in power since the end of the 19th century. Doha, the capital, is a vibrant city benefiting from the economic consequences of its sale of oil and natural gas. The country is the world’s number three producer behind Iran and Russia.

The production of liquefied natural gas, which is constantly increasing, has made the Qatar economy the most dynamic in the world with a growth rate of 15% from 2007 to 2011. In terms of GDP per inhabitant, since 2010 Qatar has become the world’s richest country.

110 billion dollars of investments between now and 2022The country therefore has ample resources to achieve its ambitions and is launching a number of major development projects, like

most of the other countries in the Arabian Peninsula. These concern infrastructure (town planning, roads, public transport Metro and r ai lway net wor ks , a new commercial por t, a new international airport, leisure and prestige infrastructures), industr y (petrochemical s , s teel and aluminium) and services (air transport, tourism and financial services). landmark projects include the international airport designed to handle 29 million passengers a year and connected to Doha by an express train, the Doha Convention Centre Tower, a


PERSIAN GULF:RENAULT TRUCKS KEEPS PACE WITH QATAR’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

Qatar is the world’s N°3 oil and natural gas producer.

glass obelisk 551 m high with 112 stories, the Oryx Express, a metro network with more than 300 km of track and 98 stations, the Barwa financial centre consisting of a series of towers and the new town of lusail with a potential population of 190,000 as well as 90,000 visitors in its shops and marinas. Altogether, some $110 billion of investments are planned between now and 2022.

“Why I continue buying Renault Trucks”The rapid increase in the Qatari population, all set to go from 1.7 million inhabitants in 2010 to 2.5 million in 2020, is generating growing needs with regard to waste processing. Seashore Group, the company which began with three workers in 1989 to become a diversified group with a workforce of over

2,500 now leads this sector. “Every day, we collect over 2,000 t of waste all over the country, a good part of which is recyclable,” explains Saqr Saeed Salem Al-Mohannadi, the Seashore Group’s president. “We have service contracts with key customers such as the new airport and the American airbase.” A competitive and highly exacting sector, waste collection demands vehicles that are totally reliable. This is why the Seashore Group has opted for Renault Trucks. “The waste compression systems in our collection vehicles or the systems for collecting waste water in our tankers must be accurately sized and operate perfectly,” continues Saqr Saeed Salem Al-Mohan. “And that’s why the advice provided by Renault Trucks and AMTC* is so important. What’s more, in a country where temperatures exceed 45°C in the


shade five months a year, the vehicles must have efficient air conditioning!” The Seashore Group currently operates 80 Renault Trucks vehicles, including the very first from the new D range in Qatar. The company has big ambitions for the future, as its president states:“Nowadays in Qatar, more and more calls for tender include waste recycling among the selection criteria to determine which solution is chosen - a trend that will certainly gain ground. Seashore Waste Management collects some 40 t of recyclable steel a day and we are investing in our Steel & Pipes division to recycle it. I know I can rely on AMTC and Renault Trucks to advise me in ways of transporting various types of recyclable materials and this is why I will go on buying Renault Trucks vehicles.”

Renault Trucks: vehicle reliability and excellence in aftersales support Qatar is a country where fuel costs less than one euro per 5 l and where vehicles are operated 24/7. This means that overall vehicle ownership costs first of all depend on their reliability. Mainly used in service sectors and urban distribution, the D range vehicles can be fitted with various different types of body work: waste collectors, sweepers, breakdown vehicles, tankers, swap bodies with crane, sewer flushers, etc.Qatari customers particularly appreciate these vehicles’ resilience and comfort, considering them to be the best offering available on the market in the 13 to 18 t segment, mainly in 4x2 and 4x4 configurations. They belong to a very broad offering, from

13 to 120 t, adapted to cope with local conditions of use and fitted with reliable and rugged engines. The aftersales service is acknowledged for its efficiency, particularly thanks to a 4x4 Renault Midlum equipped as a mobile workshop which can deliver rapid assistance right where customers need it. Very soon, a new workshop will be further improving Renault Trucks’ service quality offering a wider choice of available spare parts.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE HÉDOuIN

* Al-Attiya Motors & Trading Co is Renault Trucks’ importer in Qatar.

Saqr Saeed Salem Al-Mohannadi, president of Seashore Group, currently employs a workforce of over 2,500 and is one of the first customers to own vehicles from the new D range in Qatar.

The Renault Midlum 4x4 equipped as a mobile workshop for on-site assistance.


On dirt tracks or on road surfaces, the specially prepared and laid out quarry offered essential characteristics for test drives duplicating the severe operating conditions encountered in construction work. These included gradients of 8 - 23%, and an extremely broad range of surface types - dry, loose terrain, stones, tar - and very sharp bends. Its specific layout made

CONSTRUCTION DAYS:THE C AND K RANGES CAN HANDLE ANYTHING

THE CONSTRUCTION DAYS GAVE CuSTOMERS THEIR FIRST OPPORTuNITy TO TRy OuT THE CONSTRuCTION (C RANGE) AND HEAVy CONSTRuCTION (K RANGE) VEHIClES, WHICH COMPlETE THE RENAulT TRuCKS CONSTRuCTION OFFERING TOGETHER WITH THE RENAulT KERAX. CuSTOMER FEEDBACK STRESSED THE RANGES’ RuGGEDNESS, MANOEuVRABIlITy, PullING POWER AND COMFORT.

GRADIENTS OF UP TO

23%

it possible to welcome customers under the best possible conditions while at the same time offering them test tracks combining every kind of imaginable difficulty. This was an outstanding opportunity to demonstrate the remarkable characteristics offered by the Renault Trucks K and Renault Trucks C Construction vehicles.



RENAulT KERAXDevoted to extreme applications such as mining and quarryworking, it can handle a GVW/payload of up to 54 t in its XTrem version and a GCW/capacity of 120 t.

These two vehicles were available with different types of load: from 6 t for the Renault Trucks C 4x2 with a central crane up to 42 t for the K 520 and even 45 t for the two Renault Trucks K 6x4 tractors. Between demonstrations, presentations of the trucks, tests in the quarry and on-road, those present were able to get a closer look at the new range and become more familiar with all its characteristics.

unchallenged ruggedness Ruggedness is the first quality customers look for. “A truck’s ruggedness is something you can clearly feel.” “The materials used are extremely resilient. You can feel it’s steel. It’s really solid.” A feeling of solidity that can also be felt in the cab: “All the controls seem firm an d r eas sur ing . I t ’s a ver y p l eas ant experience.” But it was during the test drives that the vehicles demonstrated their stability on all types of surface: “We encountered potholes and bumps. The truck was very stable.

The cab absorbed all the jolting caused by the surface, which is very practical for off-road driving.” “The suspension springs have also been reinforced on these models, which is essential for construction site working.” This stability was also commented on despite the vehicles being fully loaded: “There was no grating, or swaying. I had the feeling we were only half loaded. It was in fact very impressive!” “Even when fully loaded, the truck had excellent traction and exceeded my expectations. The transmission was very impressive.”

Comfort, manoeuvrability and obstacle clearance Opinions were also unanimous when it came to comfort: “The truck is very well designed, it is easy to drive.” “The driver feels like he’s in a long haul truck. The comfort and spaciousness meet the same standards. It’s the best on the market.” This level of comfor t is also ref lec ted in the great ease of using differentials: “You don’t need to stop when

CONSTRUCTION DAYS:THE C AND K RANGES CAN HANDLE ANYTHING

LOADSOF UP TO

45T


THE K RANGE’S APPROACH ANGLE IS FANTASTIC FOR CLEARING OBSTACLES.Moisés Serrano, managing director of Aglomerados del Sureste in Elche, Spain.

The Renault Trucks C Construction 6x4 tractor version.

The Renault Trucks C Cab 2.3 is equally at home on rough terrain as it is on regular roads.

VIEW THE VIDEO

REPORT ON yOuTuBE.

changing from one configuration to another.” Similar comments were made concerning manoeuvrabil it y: “When driving I was impressed by the turning radius that I would call top of the range. It’s a very real advantage.” “It’s very manoeuvrable, the approach angle is incredible - a good vehicle in every respect.” “The turning angle is excellent. It quite surprised me, because I didn’t think I’d be able to turn in several places. But I was able to do so without any manoeuvring!” In addition to all these favourable comments there was also the excellent obstacle clearance capacity: “It seemed very good to me, with very high ground clearance… I think it’s particularly useful for operators who do a lot of off-road work.” In a nutshell: “No obstacle was too much for this vehicle.”

ÉRIC DuMOulIN


RENAULT TRUCKS C ROAD:RESILIENCE SERVING YOUR BUSINESS

RENAulT TRuCKS HAS BEEN OFFERING A NEW lONG DISTANCE RANGE SINCE JuNE 2014: THE RENAulT TRuCKS C ROAD, A VEHIClE SPECIAlly DESIGNED FOR HEAVy GOODS TRANSPORT WITH All THE COMFORT AND EFFICIENCy OF A lONG-HAul TRuCK. TESTED OVER THOuSANDS OF KIlOMETRES IN TuRKEy, OMAN AND BEyOND THE POlAR CIRClE uNDER THE TOuGHEST CONDITIONS (EXTREME HEAT AND EXTREME COlD, DuST lADEN ENVIRONMENTS AND ON POORly MAINTAINED ROADS), THIS TRuCK HAS EVERyTHING IT TAKES TO MEET THE MOST EXACTING DEMANDS.



RENAULT TRUCKS C ROAD:RESILIENCE SERVING YOUR BUSINESS

Reinforced chassis and high ground clearanceThe chassis of the C Road range is built around reinforced 8mm thick and 300 mm high side members. Its high ground clearance enables it to operate on challenging roads and its various suspension options in the front and rear can be adapted to the most heavy duty applications: 7.5, 8 or 9 t in the front and up to 26 t in the rear with mechanical suspension for the 6x4 configurations.Combined with reliable engines and fuel tanks offering a capacity of up to 1,420 l,

the C Road range offers the best guarantees for completing journeys of several hundred kilometres, whatever the state of the road or weather conditions.

Outstanding on-road qualitiesThe Renault Trucks C Road combines a rugged chassis with outstanding driving comfort. The aim being to make this vehicle a tool giving hauliers maximum profitability. The Renault Trucks C Road therefore has a GCW of as much as 100 t. The tractor can be adapted for high-capacity semi-tippers or

tankers and the driveline offers an extensive choice of engines ranging from 330 to 500 hp (DXi 11 or 13 l).Finally, the gearbox is available in an automated Optidriver version for gearshifting that preserves the driveline and reduces fuel consumption.

High productivity Apar t from its on-road qualities, the Renault Trucks C Road also delivers the best standards when it comes to safety and driving aid equipment.


These are real undertakings for productivity and ease of working on a day-to-day basis. For example, the ESC system helps drivers maintain constant directional control, while the Hill Start Aid feature simplifies starting on a gradient. As far as braking is concerned, the Renault Trucks C Road offers an all disc EBS braking system as standard, as well as an automatic electric parking brake.

Total cab comfortThe cab is equipped with two large storage lockers, one of which can be accessed from

both inside and outside: an extremely practical feature for heavy and bulky objects. The driver can also stand fully upright and move around easily inside the cab thanks to a high roof and one of the lowest engine tunnels on the market (200 mm high). As for bunks, there are one or two 800 mm wide bunks depending on the cab version: day or sleeper, standard or high roof.With its C Road range, Renault Trucks wanted to offer hauliers operating over rough terrain the best possible working tool: an on-road vehicle with a reinforced chassis

originally designed for the construction range that would be reliable and adapted to the most demanding long-distance haulage assignments carried out under extreme conditions.

TRISTAN DE TEDESCO


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STRONG ON ROBUSTNESS

Renault Trucks SAS with a capital of € 50,000,000 - 954 506 077 RCS lyonPhoto credits: © Renault Trucks, 03/2013

renault-trucks.com

Documents

RENA ulT TRuCKS INTERNATIONAl July RENAulT-TRuCKS.COM … · 2014-08-06 · drove a Renault Kerax 370 hp. He then drove a Renault Kerax 400 hp during his first two years as an independent