Heavy from the start

MAN is set to achieve great things at W. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG. The company, which has its roots in large-volume and heavy haulage, relies on the many years of experience of its team and the latest vehicle technology.

Driver Thorsten von Wilmsdorff has a huge amount on board when he leaves the company premises of W. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG in his MAN TGX 41.640 8×4. The separator plant part that he recently transported from Saarbrücken to the port of Dillingen weighed 209 tonnes. Before Thorsten’s planned heavy haulage can start, at least 6 to 12 weeks of meticulous pre-planning time lies ahead of the colleagues in the office who make sure that the transport reaches its destination without a hitch.

This preparation includes coordination with the approval authorities, city district, rural district, Autobahn GmbH and police. They also have to coordinate with subcontractors such as energy suppliers when overhead lines have to be installed or road transport companies that have to dismantle crash barriers or rotate traffic lights. “And sometimes it all comes down to one thing,” says Yannick Alt, who has been the junior manager at W. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG since 2016, and is responsible for coordinating major projects.

“Bridges always involve an enormous amount of work,” says Yannick Alt, “even though we drive over the structures again and again with a similar tonnage, we have to submit a static test every time. There are always delays in this process as the test engineers have different views on the factors and safety margins to be taken into account. This leads to discussions and usually involves recalculations. This takes an enormous amount of time and, after a lot of effort and nervousness, the transport permits are in fact sometimes only available the day before the transport begins. When you consider that a large-volume and heavy haulage takes up to a year to plan, it is inevitable that there is sometimes a last-minute rush.

So the job the Mayer team has to do is not one for the impatient! Transport requires total concentration, all the way. A small mistake by Thorsten and his colleagues can have direct consequences. In addition to Thorsten’s MAN heavy-duty tractor, the transport of the separator was accompanied by two other MAN vehicles from W. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG: One of them, a MAN 41.680 TG2, was used as a pusher and driven by Hans Dräger, an experienced Mayer employee. Further support came in the form of two MAN rental vehicles and the two MAN heavy-duty experts Steffen Richter and Rainer Bayer, both from the MAN Special Vehicles team.

“In places that are particularly difficult to negotiate, a team of “additional steerers” needs to keep an eye on the space around the vehicle combination and to re-steer the axle combination hydraulically if necessary. In some localities, a walking pace must be maintained so that employees of our subcontractors can lift the power line and allow the transport to pass smoothly. Every pair of eyes counts and everyone has to be fully focussed,” Yannick Alt describes the demands on the team.

Driver Thorsten, with other colleagues at W. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG, form a well-coordinated team with a wealth of experience. Thorsten has been passionate about driving trucks for 19 years and it is precisely this passion that is needed to be able to work successfully in large and heavy haulage:

“We want our employees to have fun while they are working. What we do is special. There is a huge amount of responsibility, it’s stressful, and without having fun you wouldn’t get far,”

claims Yannick Alt.

Thorsten puts his heart and soul into his job at W. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG and appreciates that this type of transport is something special. The special superstructure of one of the company’s MAN vehicles, which hits the road with a 175-megaton crane superstructure, also provides a breath of fresh air. The Fassi Techno 1750 is currently the largest possible Fassi body. Since it is not permanently attached to the frame, but is hydraulically bolted to the tractor via a special insert, the crane can be moved between vehicles or used independently. An additional advantage is that the tractor can also be used flexibly as a semi-trailer tractor after dismantling the crane.

In general, the Mayer vehicles feature special equipment for special jobs, and of course the comfort of the drivers is extremely important to the company. Thorsten particularly values the loyalty and open ear of his employer W. Mayer GmbH & Co.KG. The family-run company places huge emphasis on good communication with each other, and this stands firm: “Without good communication, nothing works,” Yannik Alt adds.

Before Thorsten sets off with the heavily loaded MAN, the entire transport has been discussed and he knows every detail about the loading concept and the route. “The drivers bring a huge amount of knowledge and expertise to their jobs,” says Alt. And the entire team is in constant radio contact along the entire transport route. Everyone knows what they have to do – most Mayer employees started their careers here when they were young and will also retire here – so it’s a well-coordinated team with a lot of experience and many memories, one of which Thorsten is also happy to share with us: last summer, he was able to drive his heavy-duty tractor at night through Berlin’s city centre, which had been closed off especially for this purpose. “We had Berlin to ourselves,” he laughs. A defining moment.

Foto: Stefan Jung, Wetter (Germany)