Safe delivery of cement with the Econic in Paris's urban traffic.
A tight schedule and unforeseeable circumstances are factors that greatly affect the daily business of suppliers of building materials such as Eqiom in the region of the French capital. Cement and other materials often have to be transported through Paris traffic to be delivered to construction sites. Safety then has the highest priority: all deliveries should arrive reliably while at the same time both the driver and other road users should be protected as well as possible. A case for the Econic.
On the safe side.
For this type of transportation job, Eqiom turned to Trans Route Béton and has hired an Econic 3235 from them – an absolute highlight in the fleet of the truck hire company. Othmane Jennane is the managing director at Trans Route Béton and thoroughly impressed by the Mercedes-Benz Low-Entry truck. "The level of safety it offers was a must for our cement delivery business," he explains.
Othmane Jennane knows all about the business and its challenges. He and his company specialise in the long-term rental of cement mixer vehicles with drivers. Above all, it was the various "valuable extra features" on the Econic that impressed him, he says.
The greatest advantage of the Econic: thanks to the DirectVision concept with its low cab and huge windows, drivers have a direct view of a large part of their surroundings. Optional assistance systems such as the Blind Spot camera system provide for additional safety. In inner-city traffic, in particular, the support provided by Sideguard Assist is especially valuable. The system warns the driver when turning if it detects an obstacle on the right-hand side of the truck.
Active Brake Assist intervenes automatically should there be a risk of collision. If the driver fails to react to the visual and audible warning, there first follows an automatic partial application of the brakes with activation of the hazard warning light system. This is followed by a short full application of the brakes.
Typical of Mercedes-Benz.
As a Special Truck the Econic is one of the specialists among the trucks bearing the three-pointed star. It was developed as a modern commercial vehicle capable of meeting the challenges posed by urban environments. The vehicle concept is not only based on innovative elements but on well-proven components from the Mercedes-Benz A model series. Thus the air-sprung chassis on the Econic 3235 is from the Actros. The engine is also identical: an OM 936, 7.7-l engine with a displacement of 260 kW/354 hp combined with an Allison 3200 P automatic transmission.
