Scheduled for delivery between March 2012 and December 2013, approximately 300 units will enter service this year. As with the previous order, the mix of vehicles will comprise mainly Scania R-series tractor units but will also include a significant number of Scania G-series models.

“This agreement reflects our on-going satisfaction with Scania and the levels of support provided by the company’s dealer network,” comments Stobart Group Chief Operating Officer, William Stobart. “Scania’s focus on ongoing development will allow Eddie Stobart to continue to provide sustainable distribution and the usual high levels of service to its customers.”

“Over the past two years, the partnership between Eddie Stobart, A. W. Jenkinson and Scania has continued to develop positively,” says Hans-Christer Holgersson, Managing Director of Scania (Great Britain) Limited. “Winning such a significant repeat order not only demonstrates that our products meet the operational needs of these two high profile customers day-in day-out, but also the capabilities of our service organisation when it comes to providing a comprehensive range of back-up services on such a large geographical scale.”

Eddie Stobart, part of Stobart Group, is one of the most recognised and strongest brands in Britain, best known for its iconic green trucks. Today, Eddie Stobart is the name behind a road haulage fleet of 2,280 and some of the best vehicle utilisation in the industry, helping to maximise effiency and environmental benefits.

A.W. Jenkinson Forest Products and its subsidiaries handle over 2 million tonnes of green waste, roundwood, chips, sawdust, bark and other timber co-products each year, collected from forestry sites, sawmills and other wood processing industries throughout the UK. The company is the largest UK supplier of woodchip and bark products.

Scania is a major supplier to British industry of trucks, buses, coaches and engines for industrial and marine applications. Additionally, the company provides a wide range of complementary and ancillary services in support of its products and customers through its 90-plus-strong network of service centres. In 2011, Scania’s share of the UK heavy truck market was 14% and its combined bus and coach market share amounted to 8.1%.

For further information, please contact Hans-Åke Danielsson, Press Manager, tel. +46 8 553 856 62.

In November the Tanzania Driver Competition produced a winner: Erasmus Mtui, a 43-year-old driver from petroleum haulage company Super Star Forwarders. The newly crowned Tanzanian Driver of the Year 2011 will go on to compete in the international finals in South Africa in 2012. “I’m ready,” he says.

Mtui’s family was thrilled and proud, and also a little shocked. The prize – 5 million shillings (2,375 euros) – is a lot of money for the family.

Scania is well known in Tanzania – so much so that the brand has become synonymous with the word “truck”.

“Scania Tanzania is very pleased and excited to host the Tanzanian Driver of the Year competition,” Mark Cameron, Managing Director of Scania Tanzania, told the gathering at the November competition, which took place at the Biafra Grounds in Dar es Salaam. “The driver is the most important factor in influencing transport economy, environment and road safety.”

Cameron expressed his respect for the competitors’ skills and invited all Tanzanian drivers in the country to the 2013 Tanzanian Driver of the Year competition, which is already being planned. The ambition is to create a larger event that includes professional truck and bus drivers from all over Tanzania.

Also addressing the crowd were Lennarth Hjelmåker, Sweden’s Ambassador to Tanzania; Seif A Seif, Chairman of the Tanzanian Truck Owners Association; and Mohamed Mpinga, Traffic Police Commander.

The November competition in Dar es Salaam was the grand finale involving the top five contestants from an earlier event where drivers were tested on their driving skills, road safety awareness and driving style for optimising fuel economy. For the finals, the five competitors were required to perform such tasks as “Knock the King”, “Slalom” and “Bull’s Eye” for the large and enthusiastic crowd of spectators.

Do you want to attend Scania Driver Competitions 2012? Register now!

“The order represents a success for our strategy of supplying high quality products and services that contribute to increased efficiency and higher profitability,” says Peter Sjöblom, Managing Director of Scania’s Chinese sales company.

Scania has delivered trucks to Zoomlion since 2008. Zoomlion’s largest mobile concrete pumps, which have a span up to 80 metres, are mounted on Scania’s 4- and 5-axle truck chassis with 6-cylinder 420-470 hp engines. The pumps are used in the construction of high-rise buildings and bridges, for example.

“The order represents a success for our strategy of supplying high quality products and services that contribute to increased efficiency and higher profitability,” says Peter Sjöblom, Managing Director of Scania’s Chinese sales company.

“Our partnership with Zoomlion has great potential and also offers the possibility of delivering trucks to other markets where the company is planning to expand,” says Mr Sjöblom.

To establish trustful and long term cooperation with demanding, professional customers is an important part of Scania’s growth strategy in the Chinese market. Deeper cooperation was thus initiated last year with Zoomlion.

Within the framework of its modular product system, Scania has produced the robust truck chassis that has been customised for Zoomlion’s needs as regards bodywork and operation.

In order to ensure high uptime, Scania China has trained personnel at Zoomlion’s own service workshops and has also established special teams of service technicians who can assist in the event of operational disruptions.

Strict demands as regards uptime and performance are made of a concrete pump of Scania’s magnitude. It works constantly with maximum torque for 14 hours per day.

“Awareness is increasing among customers in the Chinese market of the value of investing in Scania’s products and services, since they contribute to better capacity utilisation and thus higher profitability,” states Mr Sjöblom.

Zoomlion is China’s leading manufacturer of machinery and equipment which is used, for example, in the construction of important national infrastructure. Research and development is also conducted in the group, as well as technology consulting services. Zoomlion was founded in 1992 and today has more than 30,000 employees. The Italian concrete pump manufacturer Cifa has been part of the group since 2008. Today, Zoomlion is the world’s largest concrete machinery manufacturer.

1. Raise the seat to a comfortable position. To sit correctly, you should have an upright seating position.

2. Tip the seat forward. This increases the chance of an upright position.

3.Tilt the backrest backward so that the hip angle is at 100 to 110 degrees. This means that the centre of gravity of the body is closer to the spine, which relieves the load on the discs and spinal joints and reduces the load on the hip joints.

4. Set the lumbar support so that it follows the shape of your back.

5. Adjust the seat to a fist’s width away from the back of your knees.

6. Move the entire seat to a position where you can press down the pedals fully without straining.

7. With the adjustable steering column position, adjust the steering wheel so it’s as close as possible to your body. This reduces the forward torsion on your body, relieving the load on your back and neck.

Be sure to register for Scania Driver Competition 2012

Magnuz Häger

Magnuz Häger, who has been a demonstration driver for 10 years, puts his skills on display primarily at Scania press events in Europe. “When I’m not working as demo driver, I work as a service technician at a tractor workshop,” he says. “Most of us demo drivers find the contrast between our regular jobs and working as demo drivers enriching.”

Häger and his colleagues are trained for their assignments. He says, “It’s expected that we have full knowledge of the solutions that are being introduced, so we continuously receive training in product knowledge. But my view is that our most important role is to convey a positive feeling to our visitors, whether or not they are capable truck drivers. It’s our duty to ensure that driving Scania’s trucks is a good experience.”

Most of the journalists that Häger meets are very interested in the technology behind Scania’s products. “Occasionally, they ask us questions that clearly lie beyond our field of knowledge,” he admits. “We’ve learned to only answer questions when we have all the information; in those cases, we refer them to experts.”

On camera

Dutch TV programme editor Bas van Nooten and photographer Giel van der Donk, both with PMG TV, were participating in Scania’s press event with the aim of shooting a 7-minute segment on the new off-road trucks.

Editor Bas van Nooten and photographer Giel van der Donk

“Our viewers are very interested in the technology and how it’s being applied,” says Bas van Nooten. Each week, 300,000 viewers in the Netherlands tune in to the half-hour TV-programme “RTL Transportwereld” to learn about the world of transport.

Scania staff photographer Carl-Erik Andersson was also onsite, shooting press images and photos for the company’s internal purposes.

“Most visitors at our events take their own pictures,” Andersson says. “I try to help them by scouting locations and angles; that way we don’t get the exact same image in every magazine. Photographers usually wish to add their own touch, and I understand what they are looking for.”

Carl-Erik Andersson

Dirk Sanne is Editor-in-Chief of the German trade magazine Güterverehr.

Dirk Sanne

“I will primarily write about the technological developments,” Sanne says. “That is what my readers are most interested in. I expect that this launch will result in at least two pages in my magazine.”

What is new in this fifth round of competitions?

What lessons have you learned from previous competitions?
“That we are on the right path. Many drivers come back and compete year after year, and in addition the number of contestants has gradually increased. Some of our coordinators out in the markets have also participated several times. Their enthusiasm is contagious, which is one reason why more markets want to join the competitions.”

Scania Driver Competitions is the largest and most demanding truck driver competition in the world. More than 55,000 drivers from across 39 countries are expected to compete to be declared the best truck drivers in Scania Driver Competitions 2012.

Read more and register below

Initiated in 2003, the Scania Driver Competitions were originally held in Europe. They have since spread out globally, evolving into challenging events that highlight the importance of the skills of drivers, as well as driver training and development to enhance road safety awareness and proficient eco-driving.

“The driver is the single most important factor for economy, environment and safety,” says Leif Östling, President and CEO, Scania. “Skilled and committed drivers deliver transport efficiently, reduce emissions, contribute to better road safety and improve any company’s profitability. These types of drivers are real assets and prove that environmental pursuits and positive financial results can go hand-in-hand.”

Over the next few months driver competitions will be launched worldwide, including such disparate places as Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Argentina, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, China, Chile, Malaysia, Peru and South Africa, as well as across Europe.

More info and registration

Excon is Asia’s third largest exhibition for construction equipment and is therefore an important place for Scania to be in order to reach target groups within the mining and construction segment. About 30,000 people visited the exhibition for business purposes.
 
Scania’s truck was placed in a central position at the exhibition and therefore received good exposure. Many visitors got the chance to try it out and could obtain information about the different functions such as Scania Opticruise. The response was positive.
 
 

Scania’s heavy-duty mining tipper model P 380 was launched in the Indian market during EXCON 2007 together with Larsen & Toubro (L&T). L&T has successfully established Scania’s mining trucks in the Indian mining industry and since the launch more than 600 P 380 mining trucks have been supplied to various highly satisfied customers in the construction and mining sectors.
 
After four years in India, Scania sees other openings in the on-road segment for buses and coaches and for heavy transport services. 

Scania Commercial Vehicles India was formed in 2011 in order to market Scania trucks, buses and engines in India. To shorten the lead times to the customers, Scania Commercial Vehicles India is currently in the process of establishing an assembly unit in Bangalore.
 
Scania’s presence in the country complements L&T’s product range in the construction and mining sectors, and Scania customers will benefit from a larger range of models, shorter delivery times and enhanced service support.

Since the contemporary, non-profit spectacle Cirkus Cirkör was founded in 1995, some 70,000 to 100,000 spectators have seen their performances every year.

The troupe is presently touring with its performance “Wear it like a crown” and will visit eight Norwegian cities followed by the French city of Mulhouse, Budapest, Hungary, and the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. To help with the tour, Scania has lent a new tractor and trailer unit for two years.

“The cooperation solves our transport problems but it also means a partnership with a company that we respect and are proud to work with,” says Anders Frennberg, CEO at Cirkus Cirkör.

Scania has a number of other current cultural sponsorship agreements including the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, the experimental exhibition and museum Tom Tits Experiment, along with the Scania Choir and the Opera of Södertälje.

Trucks & Trailers is currently available in editions for the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, UK and the Nordic countries. See www.trucks-and-trailers.com.

In September, SCS Software’s CEO Pavel Šebor was invited to DemoCentre in Södertälje and for the first time in his life drove an actual real truck. His experience is recorded in the SCS blog.

A Scania truck in the simulation game Trucks & Trailers.