Daimler Commercial Vehicles and Mercedes-Benz Trucks joined hands to celebrate 20 years of successful operations of its Actros Trucks in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

During the celebrations, three of its UAE customers - Al Jaber Leasing Services, Western Bainoona Group and Mubarak & Sons Transport - were recognised as ‘Actros Mileage Millionaires’ for reaching mileages of over one million km with their Actros trucks.

The trio received a ‘Rejuvenation Package’ for their trucks, containing a customised bundle of Mercedes-Benz GenuineParts, MB Oil and other original fluids, equipping the award trucks for the next million kilometres, said a statement from the company.

The three Actros trucks showcased at the event have together driven a whopping 4.7 million km in 33 years of its operation. This equals 30,000 times driving the distance between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, it stated.

All trucks are ‘first-hand’ and were originally purchased from Emirates Motor Company (EMC), the Mercedes-Benz authorised distributor in Abu Dhabi, and Gargash Enterprises, the authorised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Of the three vehicles, the one declared as the ‘Mileage Millionaire’ is a first generation Actros model 3848 with a tanker body, which has achieved a mileage of 1,910,295 km since its launch in the fleet of Al Jaber Leasing Services in 2002.

Marwan Seif, general manager of Al Jaber Leasing Services, said: “We have more than 1,000 Mercedes-Benz Actros Trucks in our fleet ranging from model year 2000 to 2015, operated in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

“Our effective maintenance programmes, along with the strong collaboration with Emirates Motor Company’s product support teams were the main facilitators of this achievement. Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks have proven their reliability in our vast fleet and play an important role in our operations in the GCC,” he said.

The two other Actros are of the second model generation (2008), having reached a mileage of 1.55 million km and 1.24 million km. The latter truck has an engine operation of more than 33,500 hours since its launch in the fleet of Western Bainoona Group in 2008 – this is an average of more than 10 hours per day over the entire period, it said.

Stefan Buchner, head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, said: “We have sold more than 1 million Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks in the past 20 years, making it the most successful premium heavy-duty truck in the world.”

Roland Schneider, president and CEO of Daimler Commercial Vehicles Mena, said: “After having reached the milestone of 100,000 Actros sold in the region in September this year, we are delighted to reward our valued customers with the recognition.”

During the event, the company unveiled its latest model Actros 3844 S tractor-head, equipped with a highly fuel-efficient 6-cylinder engine (Euro 3) boosting 435 hp, combined with the comfortable 16-speed Mercedes PowerShift automated gearbox.-TradeArabia News Service