Éric Perraud does viticultural earthworks in an Arocs 2036

Business & logistics

Perraud’s vineyard.

Éric Perraud from Burgundy, France, has specialised his company in the areas of civil engineering and construction site transport. With the Arocs 2036, the company also does earthworks in the vineyards.

Arocs 4x4: the all-wheel truck is perfect for the demanding terrain on the vineyards.
Arocs 4x4: the all-wheel truck is perfect for the demanding terrain on the vineyards.

The Côte de Nuits is a French winegrowing region that produces some of the most expensive wines in the world. From it’s location ten kilometres south of Dijon, it extends for more than 20 kilometres, but only has around 1.500 hectares. The site most appreciated by wine connoisseurs is the Domaine Romanée-Conti. A bottle of the current vintage costs around €3.000, and older vintages sometimes cost the same as a mid-range car. Éric Perraud owns a 2.5 hectare site in this region in the winegrowing commune of Gevrey-Chambertin. Fittingly, the address is even Rue des Terres d’Or.


The wines from Gevrey-Chambertin may not fetch the connoisseur prices of a Romanée-Conti, but they do put a considerable strain on the average earners’ bank accounts. There’s no vineyard on Éric Perraud’s property now, but a construction and transport company. Nevertheless, it too is closely linked to the famous vineyards. The best-known vineyards are almost all situated on hillsides, some of which are quite steep.

Their upkeep also includes mechanical weeding with tractors. Over time, this pulls the soil from the slopes so that it is level. This is where the company’s new Arocs 2036 comes in. The all-wheel truck manages even the steepest farm roads. “Every five to six years, the small earth mounds have to be transported back up again,” Éric Perraud shares. Another of the company’s tasks is also to pull up the vines, even though this is only necessary every 80 years or so for red vines and every 50 years for white.


“Every five to six years, the small earth mounds have to be transported back up again.”

 – Éric Perraud, head of Transports Perraud



When new wine cellars need to be built, vineyards also happily rely on the company from Gevrey-Chambertin. In Fixin, one of the typical winegrowing villages in the Côtes de Nuits, a five-metre-deep excavation site is currently being dug out in front of an old cellar in a former courtyard. The Arocs 2036 winds its way through the alleys. A normal four-axle dump truck would’t be able to get through here. The access road to the construction site is steep. Just a little rain is enough for only the all-wheel drive to help move things forwards.

Éric Perraud makes 30 per cent of his turnover with orders from winegrowers. The rest comes from the company’s own construction company, which has wheel loaders and diggers as well as a Hydrema dump truck. Another line of business is the transport of building materials for the large national civil engineering companies such as Bouygues, Colas or Roger Martin. There are 17 four-axle dump trucks and 17 dumper trucks with aluminium and steel trailers available for this purpose. Two low-loaders weighing 21 and 35 tonnes transport the company’s own and third-party construction machinery to locations of choice.


Manoeuvrable: the access roads to the construction sites in the region can be narrow and steep. The Arocs can get to locations that other four-axle dump trucks can’t.
Manoeuvrable: the access roads to the construction sites in the region can be narrow and steep. The Arocs can get to locations that other four-axle dump trucks can’t.
Manoeuvrable: the access roads to the construction sites in the region can be narrow and steep. The Arocs can get to locations that other four-axle dump trucks can’t.
Manoeuvrable: the access roads to the construction sites in the region can be narrow and steep. The Arocs can get to locations that other four-axle dump trucks can’t.
Manoeuvrable: the access roads to the construction sites in the region can be narrow and steep. The Arocs can get to locations that other four-axle dump trucks can’t.
Manoeuvrable: the access roads to the construction sites in the region can be narrow and steep. The Arocs can get to locations that other four-axle dump trucks can’t.

Photos: Hans Müller

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