The successful delivery of the first Metso Truck Body in Brazil marks an unprecedented and significant step in Metso's offering of solutions for mining and off-road transportation. Developed and made available under a one-year loan agreement, the truck body will be installed in Carajás, Pará, for testing at one of the largest mining companies in the country, meeting a demand for trucks with a capacity of up to 400 tons.
The client, one of the major players in the sector, seeks robust and innovative solutions that reduce operational impacts and increase the useful life of the equipment. As this is the first application of this size in the region, both Metso and the site were excited to go through this journey together. The results presented in previous applications were crucial for choosing the right solution, and data will be collected to analyze the truck body’s performance to confirm it has met the targeted goals.
Douglas Andrade, Metso's product technical support engineer, explains that the truck body project was developed to meet the specific needs of the customer, and involved many different countries throughout the process. While Finland was responsible for studying the metal structure, Sweden was responsible for designing the rubber lining, which was later manufactured in Lithuania and Brazil.
"This was a collaborative solution within different Metso units. The linings were assembled throughout the truck body structure and tests were carried out here in Brazil, which we are very proud about," says Douglas.
Amongst Metso Truck Body’s competitive advantages is its rubber lining, an innovation that brings clear advantages over conventional steel, such as greater resistance to abrasion, lower noise and vibration, and increased durability of structural components, including the truck itself. These benefits were highlighted specifically for the site’s maintenance and operations areas, with Metso’s solution bringing tangible gains for overall optimization.
For Rheno Assef, manager of the North region, the major difference in supplying the truck body is in the complete supply cycle: manufacturing, technical assistance and refurbishment.
"The client needed a solution that offered availability and capacity. However, the benefit that most contributed to convincing the team was our ability to refurbish the truck body, and refurbish it as many times as necessary," explains Rheno.
Metso's worldwide experience with the product -- having already been successfully applied in countries such as Mexico, the United States, and regions in Europe -- served as a reference during the negotiation process, which involved several meetings to align operational goals and technical expectations.