New Mercedes-Benz Arocs A Moving Tribute To Grandfathers Who Served

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The eye-catching new addition to the Tony M Rees fleet has a flat-floored StreamSpace cab and 12.8-litre in-line six-cylinder engine. (Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.)

Tony M Rees’ fleet of tractors are usually easy to spot, as the bulk haulier’s vehicles are often decorated with custom airbrushed artwork. On his latest Mercedes-Benz truck, Rees commissioned a personal tribute to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day with images of his grandfather, his wife’s grandfather, and his driver’s grandfather in uniform—each served during World War II in a different branch of the Armed Forces. The truck’s artwork also includes a Spitfire, a naval vessel, and a tank. The new Arocs tractor is the seventh Mercedes-Benz in Rees’ fleet.

Built For Manoeuvrability

Rees’ new Arocs 2553 is powered by a 12.8-litre in-line six-cylinder engine that produces 390 kilowatts (530 horsepower). This output is transmitted to the road via the middle axle. Compared to Rees’ oldest trucks, which are 4x Actros models, the new Arocs have lifting tag axles—a configuration Rees prefers for its increased fuel efficiency and reduced turning circle. Other key features include the flat-floored StreamSpace cab, intuitive Multimedia Cockpit with twin screens, enhanced versions of the Actros Brake Assist emergency braking, fuel-saving Predictive Powertrain Control systems, and Uptime predictive maintenance technology.

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The new truck’s airbrushed livery bears an image of his grandfather, alongside pictures of his wife’s and driver’s grandfathers. (Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.)

More On The Mercedes-Benz Arocs

The Mercedes-Benz Arocs is available in two variants: the standard Arocs, which supports GCWs (gross combination weights) of between 18 and 48 tonnes and the Arocs SLT, which supports a GCW of up to 250 tonnes. Both models share the same cab specifications, including the ClassicSpace S-cab, ClassicSpace and CompactSpace M-cabs, and ClassicSpace, StreamSpace, and BigSpace L-cabs. The six-cylinder in-line engine options range from 235 to 617 horsepower (175 to 460 kilowatts), consisting of four displacement classes (7.7, 10,7, 12.8, and 15.6 litres) and 18 output levels. The high-torque design provides anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 newton metres (737.6 to 2,212.7 pounds-foot) of torque, and the broad range helps to reduce shift operations, which in turn saves wear on the clutch and transmission.

Find Your Arocs

Truck Locator is a good resource for new and used Mercedes-Benz trucks including a wide variety of Arocs models, many of which come fitted with bodies for municipal, loader, concrete, and tipper bodies.