Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA FZE and Mercedes-Benz Trucks celebrated 20 years of the Actros truck in the region by presenting three UAE customers with ‘Actros Mileage Millionaires’ awards for reaching mileages of more than a million kilometres with their Actros trucks.
The customers were Al Jaber Leasing Services, Western Bainoona Group and Mubarak & Sons Transport, who received a ‘Rejuvenation Package’ for their trucks, said a statement from Daimler Commercial Vehicles. The package contained a customised bundle of Mercedes-Benz GenuineParts, MB Oil and other original fluids, equipping the award trucks for the next million kilometres. The three trucks that had achieved the million-plus kilometer mileages were also displayed at the event.
Stefan Buchner, head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, said: “We have sold more than 1,000,000 Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks in the past 20 years. This makes our Actros the most successful premium heavy-duty truck in the world. Now we are proud to celebrate three Actros trucks from the UAE, each with more than 1,000,000 kilometres. This is a great achievement and illustrates the loyalty of our customers based on the unprecedented reliability of our Actros.”
The three Actros trucks showcased at the event have driven altogether 4.7 million kilometres in overall 33 years of operation. This equals 30,000 times the distance between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. All trucks were originally purchased new from Emirates Motor Company (EMC), the Mercedes-Benz authorised distributor in Abu Dhabi, and Gargash Enterprises, the authorised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, the statement added.
The top ‘Mileage Millionaire’ is a 1st generation Actros model 3848 with a tanker body, which has achieved a mileage of 1,910,295km since its launch in the fleet of Al Jaber Leasing Services in 2002. The two other Actros are of the second model generation (2008), having reached a mileage of 1.55 million kilometres and 1.24 million kilometres respectively.
Marwan Seif, general manager of Al Jaber Leasing Services, said: “We have more than 1,000 Mercedes-Benz Actros Trucks in our fleet ranging from model year 2000 to 2015, operated in the UAE, Qatar and KSA. Our effective maintenance programs, along with the strong collaboration with Emirates Motor Company’s product support teams were the main facilitators of this achievement. Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks have proven their reliability in our fleet and play an important role in our operations in the GCC.”
The latest model of the Actros 3844 S tractor-head was also revealed during the event. It features a special ‘20 years of Actros’ branding and is equipped with a fuel-efficient six-cylinder engine producing 435hp, combined with the 16-speed Mercedes PowerShift automated gearbox. It also comes with safety features such as Active Brake Assist, Telligent Proximity Control and Telligent Lane Assistant.
Roland Schneider, president and CEO of Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA, said: “The ‘20 Years Edition’ impressively demonstrates the technology leadership of Mercedes-Benz Trucks in the field of safety, contributing to make the roads here in the region safer, for both the truck driver and other road users.”