Payload

When Gottlieb Daimer of Germany designed and built his first motorized truck in 1896, you can bet he never dreamed that someday his concept for moving heavy goods would ever get to where it is today. In fact, some people still don’t believe how big some of today’s heavy haulers have become.

From Daimer’s four-horsepower, belt-driven truck with two forward speeds and one reverse, trucks today, especially those used in mining applications, have grown to monstrous proportions.

Engines in excess of 3700 hp (not far from 1000 times that of Daimer’s original engine) produce enough power to carry loads up to 400 tons and when coupled with multispeed, electronically controlled transmissions, the words “moving mountains” become a reality.

Surprisingly, though, these monsters of the mines are also user friendly when it comes to operating and servicing. Unlike earlier years when driving and maintaining the equipment was an unwelcome ordeal, today’s trucks are relatively easy to handle, they’re comfortable to drive and for the benefit of the owners, they also run longer and turn more profits because of fewer breakdowns…all of which can be directly attributed to ease of maintenance and on-board monitoring systems to detect potential problems.

All in all, the trucks featured on the next two pages of “Payload” are a true testament to modern technology and a dedication by manufacturers to make good products.

In for the long haul

There’s not a mining truck working anywhere across Canada that doesn’t need some kind of care and maintenance on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pick-up carrying tools or coffee, a crew truck carrying a team of workers, or a monster hauler carrying some of the ‘Mother Load,’ they all require special attention in order to keep them running.

Truck maintenance, in other words, is simply one of the more important things on the “must-do” list of operating a mine. The following story serves to illustrate how one company’s routine maintenance program has kept one of its trucks running long after it should have been retired.

As mining equipment gets older, its availability tends to decrease because of the number of hours on its clock. In other words, breakdowns become more frequent with age but like everything else in life, there are exceptions to the rule and Freeport-McMoRan’s # 30 CAT 793ASeries truck is one of them.

Put into service at the company’s Sierrita open-pit copper mine in southern Arizona in 1991, the truck has worked in excess of 100,000 hours and during that time, it has undergone more than 200 preventative maintenance services, consumed more than 17 million litres of fuel, and has had 132 tire changes.

“No one really expected this truck to do the hours it has already achieved,” said Mine Manager Derek Cooke. “It has already passed even the most optimistic of expectations and is performing well. Indeed, it is our intention that this haul truck will run another 50,000 hours. I think I can safely say there are several more years left in this truck.”

Despite it age and long hours of service, Cooke says the truck’s availability remains high at 90.4 per cent. The owners attribute the high hours to a basic maintenance philosophy built around a thorough Preventative Maintenance (PM) program that requires fluid changes when they need to be done, and monitoring equipment conditions on an ongoing basis.

One part of the company’s maintenance program is a pre-PM inspection which involves a thorough inspection of the entire truck about five days before it is due to arrive at the maintenance shop. This helps ensure that any replacement parts, specialized equipment and appropriately skilled mechanics are available the minute the truck enters the PM bay.

When you consider that trucks and other material movers account for upwards of 55% of a mine’s total operating costs, it makes sense to take care of equipment on a routine basis, even if it looks worn out. As the saying goes, “You can’t tell a book by its cover” and that certainly holds true for old # 30.

When it comes to a tough environment for both man and machine, few places can match the oil fields of Western Canada. And, as anyone who has worked in this part of the country will attest, it’s a rugged place that is hard on people, but doubly hard on equipment.

Service helps trucker survive

One company that knows all of this first hand is Formula Powell of Fort Nelson, B. C., a trucking company that specializes in transporting small drilling and service rigs, work camps, and matting and waste to and from the oil fields.

With terminals located throughout British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, Formula Powell is one of the largest oil field trucking companies in Western Canada and one of the leaders when it comes to keeping its trucks running under adverse conditions.

As every truck owner and operator knows, oils and other lubricants are probably the most important things to keep an eye on, especially under harsh weather conditions, and Formula Powell knows this from experience because it owns and operates 35 off-road trucks, 100 flatbed trailers, 60 van trailers and a wide array of loaders and forklifts. It has a lot invested and as the company’s Shop Foreman John Allen says: “Service intervals and proper lubrication are key factors.”

Allen speaks from experience when he says that high-quality lubricants are worth the price because not too long ago he was using a lower-grade product and says “The grease we were using wasn’t providing protection or lasting as long as we needed it to. We were changing u-joints, tie-rod ends and brake cam bushings way too often.”

“The engine oils we used to use did not have the extended drain interval capacities we required. Top-up consumption was an issue too, as were high ash levels.”

In an effort to rectify these problems, Allen looked around at various manufacturers and says that he eventually found a one-stop shop in Petro-Canada with its integrated line of oils and lubricants.

Allen says three of Petro-Canada’s products (PRECISION Synthetic Moly grease, DURON XL Synthetic Blend 0W-30, and DURON-E 15W-40 heavy-duty engine oil) are now in his shop and “We now only need to inventory a handful of lubricants to meet all of our needs.”

He went on to give examples of why Formula Powell is happy that it changed to these new products.

“Engine oil top ups have been reduced by 20% since we switched to the 15W-40 heavy-duty engine oils and the 0W- 30 is now working well in our forklifts, loaders and bed truck engines,” said Allen.

“During the winter, sometimes these machines sit for a day or two without being started. In the past there were times when we couldn’t get them started without an auxiliary heater. The entire process would take two or three hours, but now the engines are responsive right away.”

As for the greasing this machines, Allen says: “A number of components, including u-joints, tie-rod ends and the brake cam bushings are now lasting two to three times longer than before.”

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