In heavy terrain, Rüdebusch uses the Arocs

If you look at the anthracite-coloured grit, ploughed into furrows under your feet, or stand a few steps further at the upper lip of the awe-inspiring crater and ignore the thin line of coniferous forest on the horizon – you could be forgiven for thinking that you have landed on the moon. Where a dark-red moon vehicle is in the process of manoeuvring its way through the landscape, making tyre imprints in the ground. Of course, in reality, the scene isn't really taking place beyond the earth's atmosphere. And yet, the backdrop is impressive: Diabaswerk Huneberg, a quarry near Bad Harzburg in the south of Lower Saxony. The 'Moon vehicle' in operation?: an Arocs all-wheel tractor unit with tipper body. A wheel loader has just filled the tipper body – with the finely granulated grit piled up to form a kind of mountain landscape. "Diabase is a typical stone here in the Harz region. It is hard and resistant. That's why it is used as a base material for roads or for the manufacture of asphalt," explains Arne Buhle, the man sitting at the wheel of the Arocs.

It isn't the only truck which Buhle's bosses, Hans-Hermann Rüdebusch and his son Wieland, have ordered for their family business, no - they have ordered no less than twenty-eight Arocs. As well as double-axle all-wheel semitrailers, three-axle dump trucks are also part of the fleet. All the Arocs have an output of 330 kW. Altogether, the fleet of the Braunschweig company is home to more than 210 heavy-duty trucks – almost all of them sporting the star on the radiator grille. Journeys like today's where bulk goods are transported for road construction and public works projects are standard.

"We ordered the Arocs as soon as it was available – because we trust the Mercedes-Benz brand," explains junior manager Wieland Rüdebusch. An investment which the truck quickly repaid. "It's a really good construction site and off-road vehicle which has no problems getting through even on clayey and deep underground," says the 32-year old. On top of that, the Arocs' fuel consumption is 'sensational'. "We can make tremendous savings off-road but also on hilly routes!"

Arne Buhle can confirm that: part of his job is to train his roughly 250 driver colleagues. "Depending on how tough the job at hand is, a well-instructed driver can operate the Arocs at an average consumption of between thirty-two and thirty-five litres." To measure consumption, all trucks in the company are fitted with the FleetBoard Performance Analysis. In the quarry, Buhle has just driven the loaded truck onto the weighing machine: a total weight of almost exactly forty tonnes shows in the digital display. Now he stretches a tarpaulin over the load and ties it down on both sides of the tipper body with straps. Ready to drive the sixty-five plus kilometres back to Braunschweig.

For a number of years now, the Rüdebuschs have, in addition, been operating one means of transport which not many logistic companies of their size possess: a barge; the near eighty-six metre long "Inga R.". "It operates on waterways in Germany and in the Netherlands," says Wieland Rüdebusch. "The most important route where we have fixed itineraries runs from Braunschweig Port to Hamburg." The capacity is around 1400 tonnes of bulk material such as gravel – or diabase grit. Arne Buhle's journey with the red Arocs also takes him to "Inga R.". Just as the sun goes down, he presses a button and the tipper body behind the cabin swings upwards. With a gentle rushing sound, the grit slides out into the "box" next to the quay wall. The next morning, the freight is loaded by crane and "Inga R." sets off for Hamburg – via the Mittelland Canal, the Elbe Lateral Canal and the Elbe itself. Destination of the vessel in the Hanseatic City? An asphalt mixing plant. By then, the Arocs fleet will also be on the move again – but most likely without asphalt under their tyres.

Photos: Tom Roelecke