Terberg Benschop News

Kilometers Millionaire at Van Gelder with Terberg FL2000WDG 8x8

Monday, January 18th 2010

Within a few months Terberg Benschop once again celebrates a kilometers millionaire, this time from Aannemingsmaatschappij Van Gelder B.V. On December 18, 2009, driver Jan Bosman brought his truck to Terberg Hoogeveen for maintenance. Once there, the counter indicated more than one million kilometers.

More than one million kilometers is quite a performance for a truck that is used for transportation on public roads and off road. Driver Jan Bosman got his new Terberg FL2000WDG 8x8 in 1996. The truck has performed excellently in his hands. The kilometers millionaire says: "It is a solid truck with a powerful engine. I have always enjoyed driving this vehicle." According to Jan the quality of Terberg is the reason why he has reached this milestone: "The truck has never been spared and has always had to work hard. Keep in mind that this truck has a payload of 28 tons and is frequently used doing that. In wintertime I mostly carry soil and in the summer I make a lot of kilometers transporting asphalt. Van Gelder works throughout the country and I've been driving the truck in many places. For example, I helped at the construction of the A28 in Hoogeveen (NL) and also worked in The Hague developing the new district Leidschenveen-Ypenburg. The Terberg is also used with a drawbar. I then transport the trailer that serves as the water tanker to keep the rollers running. I move a lot of road construction equipment on a flatbed trailer behind the Terberg. This is all hard work. So the truck has not been spared."

The secret
Answering the question whether the Terberg FL2000WDG has needed many repairs, Jan inadvertently shows how his truck came to this extraordinary performance. The engine has never needed a major repair. The brakes were revised after 500,000 kilometers and the first clutch plate was replaced after 860,000 kilometers. These numbers indicate that Jan has handled his vehicle very carefully. He himself doesn’t want to hear anything about that. "I must  take good care of my tool. I make sure to follow the maintenance schedule conscientiously at Terberg in Hoogeveen. That is about to happen again, in this period of Christmas time, when we have a holiday for a fortnight. So that’s why I am here with my colleagues who also drive Terberg vehicles. Afterwards, the trucks have to work hard again until the summertime, although I will be using my common sense. When I get stuck in the mud, I dump the load. I don’t want to overload the power train by trying to get loose again. Also I use the foot brake as little as possible. Isn’t it much better to use the engine brake to control the 46 tons of gross vehicle weight?"

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