H&C Haulage, an aggregate transport and muckaway business based in Swindon, recently purchased a new Mercedes-Benz Arocs, the dream truck of Owner Jason Ward’s son-in-law and H&C driver, Rhys Ford. The company has operated Mercedes-Benz trucks for the entirety of its 20 years in business, transitioning from concrete mixers to tipper trucks in 2016. The latest addition to the H&C fleet is an 8x4 tipper truck, the third Arocs tipper used by the firm.
The new Arocs 3248 has a 12.8-litre, 469-horsepower (350-kilowatt) engine and a 12-speed Mercedes PowerShift automated manual transmission, and is equipped with an Abba Commercials steel Predator tipper body with a 19-tonne (21-U.S.-ton) payload capacity. It features Mercedes-Benz’s Multimedia Cockpit, which consists of a 12-inch instrument panel and a dual-screen dashboard, as well as leather upholstery, a night heater, and a refrigerator.
Exterior features include air horns and a light bar mounted on the roof, red covers for the headlamps, and a sun visor displaying the vehicle’s distinctive name: “Muck Monkey Truck.” The truck is covered by a Mercedes-Benz Complete Service Contract.
MirrorCam System Impresses Owner & Driver Alike
When Ward went to test out a demonstrator truck from Mercedes-Benz dealer Rygor, he was impressed with the MirrorCam system despite being “old-school.” That experience convinced him to equip his new truck with the system, which replaces traditional mirrors with A-pillar-mounted displays that receive video feeds from forward- and rear-facing cameras mounted to the roof. This reduces blind spots and offers a wider rear view. It didn’t take long for Ford to learn to appreciate the MirrorCam as well.
“I’d wondered before my new truck arrived why the manufacturer had decided to ‘fix’ something that wasn’t broken,” says Ford. “It took only a very short time at the wheel, however, for me to really appreciate how much better the cameras are compared to traditional mirrors. You can see a lot more of what’s going on behind you and I like the wide-angle lens, which offers a different view. Also, of course, and there are no mirrors to hide a car at the entrance to a roundabout, for example. I understand that some drivers may be resistant to change. But I’m 29, and for professionals of my generation this is definitely the way forward.”
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You will find hundreds of new and used Mercedes-Benz trucks for sale on Truck Locator, including a large selection of Arocs trucks as well as Actros and Econic models, among many others.
Source: Mercedes-Benz