Scania sells heavy trucks to Gunung Bayan

Sweden's Scania AB, Europe's third-biggest truck maker, announced on Tuesday it had sold 120 units of its Scania Heavy trucks to East Kalimantan coal miner PT. Gunung Bayan Pratama through its recently appointed distributor PT. United Tractors.

The deal is Scania's first to the expanding Indonesian coalmining industry.

The first 70 vehicles will be delivered this year, while the remaining 50 are scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2006.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

The agreement with Gunung Bayan includes a complete service and maintenance contract under which United Tractors will guarantee fleet uptime for a fixed per-kilometre fee.

All of the trucks will be four-axle types powered by Scania?s 420-hp,12-litre engine. Weighing 48 tonnes, including payload, the vehicles will be built for off-road service. Each truck will cover an average of 700 km per 24 hours.

Gunung Bayan operates around the clock, seven days a week, and the company, which is currently operating two mines, is shortly to open a further three.

Gunung Bayan?s decision to replace its existing Japanese fleet with Scania trucks will mean a 50% increase in payload per vehicle, from 20 to just over 30 tonnes. said Scania.(alex)