Living with the new 770 hp King of the Road

28 SEPTEMBER 2020

Not by any stretch of the imagination, Norwegian truck driver Rolf Aakvik could come up with the idea he would be involved in developing the world´s strongest truck. Yet that was exactly what happened.

The world´s strongest truck was developed in close cooperation with customers. One of them is Tverås Maskin & Transport (TMT), in Trondheim, Norway.

TMT is one of Norway´s largest transport suppliers of heavy machines, building roads and bridges in and around the Trondheim area, but also in other parts of Norway. In the company there are 16 heavy crushing machines, 71 excavators and 34 wheel loaders to carry backwards and forwards across the mountainous country. Which of course requires a lot of power.

“Proud to be involved”

“For that reason we have been using Scania trucks for many years and we are very proud to be involved in this field test, developing the new V8,” says Frode Tverås, one of the Leaders of TMT.

When TMT got the question from Scania if they wanted to be part of a field test developing the new 770 S V8 truck, it was obvious that the job would go to Rolf Aakvik. He started in the company 17 years ago as an apprentice and has since then exclusively been transporting heavy machines all over Norway.

Rolf Aavik

Frode Tverås

Out of the ordinary

“I´m mostly a pretty calm person, but that assignment made my heart beat a little extra. I wasn´t told how many horsepower this new engine has, but I could feel it was something out of the ordinary. Maybe the strongest truck in the world, but I couldn´t know,” Rolf Aakvik says.

Eventually he found out it was 770 hp.

Rolf´s mission for Scania is to provide feedback on how the new V8 works in everyday operations and come up with things which can be improved. He has a hard time catching that his experiences and views will be a small but important input to the new King of the Road.

Useful extra power

“I have shared my views both on how the engine works in steep climbs and on what it´s like to live in the new cabin,” he says. “The extra effect from the engine is particularly useful for the heavy loads I drive, often in steep climbs. And the development of the cabin is very positive. This one is much better to live in compared to before.”

“Overall, my job has become much easier!”