The new Actros Distribution in Mainfreight livery.

Mercedes-Benz launched their much-anticipated Actros Distribution range to customers and media representatives on Monday and Tuesday this week at Hampton Downs racetrack in the Waikato. Attendees were not just witness to an unveiling of a brand new 2635 Actros Distribution resplendent in Mainfreight livery, they all experienced key safety and operational features in real trucks, allowing them to experience first-hand the features Mercedes-Benz claim will raise the bar in this segment.

The new range of low cab easy entry trucks have the company‘s Active Brake Assist 4 fitted as standard, an emergency braking system which detects not just unseen stationary vehicles, but smaller objects including pedestrians. Other features available include Proximity Control, which automatically manages following distances, and Lane Keeping Assist.

The Actros Distribution comes in day and sleeper cab variants, 4×2, 6×2, and 6×4 configurations, rigid or tractor, with GVMs from 18 to 26 tonnes. The 6×2 has auto-drop on the third axle when the second is overloaded.

Powering the new trucks are two engines, the OM936 at 7.7-litre displacement, and the OM470 at 10.7 litres. Power and torque across the range starts at 220kW (299hp), 1200Nm (885lb/ft) and runs through various options to 335kW (455hp), 2200Nm (1623lb/ft). Both engines are Euro 6, and the company say that means better fuel efficiency, better CO2 stats, a 40% reduction in DEF consumption, and 97% reduction in NOx over previous Euro 5 equivalents.

Like safety, whole of life cost was a huge emphasis and aside from the reduced DEF and claimed economy, 35,000km service intervals with 70,000km oil change requirement lend weight to the argument.

Pieter Theron, senior manager for Daimler Truck and Bus in New Zealand, told the attendees that the trucks appealed to both the young tech-savvy drivers and the older drivers looking for new levels of comfort and safety, and that total cost of ownership implicated fuel, uptime, servicing costs, and safety.

“It‘s a cost of total ownership package that‘s difficult to beat.”