[.sushilkumar]

I loved 3123 . any ideas how it compares with TATA;s and A L equivalent trucks on a specifications sheet. Another point is service backup. I understand that bharat benz is promising service support anywhere in india but it ;a tall claim IMO .At the end of day Road side mechanics make a major difference to a truckers life in case of a break down.

I have seen loaded TATA trucks getting axle repaired in middle of no where in hills . wondering if same is possible with these bharat benz trucks . Will they be able to provide such level of support .

[Utopian]

Finally the competition has arrived to give Tata Motors sleepless nights. It would be interesting to watch the truck market in the coming months. Only the after sales service seems to be a concern.

[rahulrajeev]

Maintenance of these vehicles is my main concern. You can do the AL maintenance by purchasing accessories from Leyparts outlet and ask your local AL technician to do the work what is just necessary. But if a BharatBenz(BB) truck breaks down then we will have to bring the technician and once is available they need to get the spare parts and the whole process will take a lot of time. If BB can supply there parts outside there dealer service centers then there is a chance that they can convince many fleet owners like me.

[karthik123]

Can somebody please explain what exactly is gradeability and grade restartability? why are they mostly only specified for commercial vehicles ?

[Autokrat]

Originally Posted by karthik123

Can somebody please explain what exactly is gradeability and grade restartability? why are they mostly only specified for commercial vehicles ?

Gradeability refers to the max gradient (inclination) that a moving truck is capable of climbing when loaded to the rated load. The re-start gradeability is the maximum gradient the same truck can climb when starting from stop on a gradient.

Cars or other vehicles have much higher power to weight ratio than trucks and hence the gradeability is generally not a concern except in off road conditions.

[thecdkfactor]

Adding to what Autokrat says,

Imagine a Right angled triangle with equal base and height. If a truck is able to climb the entire hypotenuse, then the gradeability of the truck is 45 degrees or 100%.

Gradeability is mentioned for commercial vehicles as it is a direct measure of the capability and performance of the vehicle.

Talking about the reliability part, Daimler should have in their mind that best in class products alone is not going to help in reliability. It is the operating terrain and condition that is going to matter.

I will quote some examples :

You can have the best in class steering geometry. How are you going to address the issue of customer re cambering your springs?

You may use lubricants that last for a lakh kilometer. However, the ever vigil truck driver prefers to grease at the road side greasing point once a while. How are you going to address that?

There are lot of questions which i hope only time will answer

[nkrishnap]

Spotted one of these last Saturday near HSR Layout.





Looks nice on the roads actually. Plain and simple. Wondering when this will have the various livery on these.

[byomjeet]

Great trucks really. At last, the drivers, who drive and stay away from home will get some comfort while driving.

"Buri Nazar Wale Tera Mooh Kaalaa"

[CRtorquefan]

Now what seems to be a right amount of Marketing study by Daimler Benz for Indian market.
Rightfully cutting costs at the areas, where it's needed at the least just to accommodate the right ingredients where they're badly needed like the engine, gearbox-transmission & the Chassis & that's where the Mercs(Daimler Benz) makes the difference.

Just love the Mercedes Benz buses(assembled by Sutlej motors, Jalandhar) & these Daimler(Bharat-Benz) trucks.
Just a line to add,
Experiencing a Mercs-Benz was not so easier than now, just pay for Bus fare & enjoy the luxury Merc roadliner or waive a hand & have a lift in Bharat Benz.

Nostalgic:

I'd still remember the Old-est Tata Mercedes trucks with angled iron rods(sariyas) on the two extremes of their front.

[.sushilkumar]

A nice Analysis by ET . From the article , it appears that Bharat Benz has done their home work properly and are out to give some sleep less nights to biggies TATA and A L who has already started to wonder . I am thinking of starting a trucking business and those in business are really impressed with these trucks ( after going through specifications sheet ) but they want to wait for atleast 1-2 years before betting on these trucks.

Reliability is something which is suspect & how much road side mechanics they can train will decide if these trucks will work or not in indian market .


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/16605194.cms

[i74js]

I wonder if the reason of failure of TATA & Leyland has been completely understood by Benz; one of the major reasons of failure of Indian trucks is overloading followed by the road quality.

Benz might have used better engineering, but time will tell. 6.5 million km of road tests in ideal loading conditions may not be enough as both TATAs and Leylands have observed the issues with their machines for years now and are not able to address them properly for the reasons beyond their control / better known to them.

[silversteed]

Spotted 4 Bharat Benz 2523 rigid trucks on the highway between Chitradurga and Bangalore. All of them belonged to VRL. Most of VRL's fleet comprise AL trucks, and this sight was a surprise to me

[anjan_c2007]

Sighted this one on the Pune Bangalore Expressway about three days back. The picture quality is not that good. The truck has the words Bharat Benz prominently displayed in silver on its chassis' rear.



This is a Mercedes Benz bus sighted by me on the Pune-Bangalore Expressway- its says "Travel With The Star"

[Achyuth Vaibhav]

Spotted this large trailer doing tests in Sriperumbudur.Man,It was so huge.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by Achyuth Vaibhav

Spotted this large trailer doing tests in Sriperumbudur.Man,It was so huge.

This is not trailer and its tractor, this could possibly be a Bharat Benz.
Mod : could you plz move to appropriate thread plz.