Södra, Sweden, this week reported that this past May 15 two of its truck rigs with a maximum weight of 74 metric tons officially entered service. They are now rolling fully loaded.

 

Shortly after entering service, a dispensation was received for one of the rigs, a timber truck with a five-axle trailer. Dispensation for the wood-chip truck was not granted until this past week (September 10) and, during the waiting period, the truck operated as a 60-metric ton truck. Now, both rigs are in full production and both are included in the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden's ETT - Modular System for Timber Transport project named "One More Stack."

 

"We are relieved to finally get started. It will be interesting to follow how much more we will be able to transport for different products and what this will mean in terms of fewer journeys and lowered emissions," said Åsa Forss, Transport Manager at Södra.

 

Södra is one of the stakeholders in the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden's project for larger and heavier timber transportation vehicles. The project is evaluating a number of vehicles in practical operation, where areas include environmental impact (fuel consumption and emissions), road safety, and costs. Two primary types of longer and/or heavier vehicles are being evaluated: 

• ETT rigs, (One More Stack) with a length of 30 meters (max. 32 meters) and a maximum weight of 90 metric tons
• ST rigs (Bigger Stacks) with a normal length of (maximum 25.25 meters) and a maximum weight of 74 metric tons.