STELLAR JOB BY A VOLVO PULLER

A massive 74-wheel Volvo FM 460 6x4 puller took one year to reach Kerala from Maharashtra

- Deven Lad

Pullers make special machines as extreme heavy-duty trucks. Equipped with a highly powerful engine and a robust driveline they are quite different from the tractors found on a highway. Engineered to carry massive loads, called Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC) that weighs and measures far more than a conventional cargo would, pullers make awesome CVs. In India, pullers found are mostly of Volvo make. With a horsepower rating in excess of 400-500 hp, they are impressive to look at. A 6x4 Volvo FM puller belonging to Inland World Logistics recently ferried an ODC in the form of an aerospace horizontal autoclave from Nashik to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Vattiyoorkavu, Kerala over a span of one year. Where a conventional truck would take no more than a week to travel the distance, which is about 1700 km, this machine, with 74 wheels and a massive 70-tonne cargo laden on it, took a good one year to complete the journey.