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prevail, but rather to production en- vironments where haul roads exist. The B60E is intended for appli- cations where 60- to 80-ton rigid frame trucks operate, but also where rainy seasons and other con- ditions can bring rigid-frame trucks to a halt. Bell says if a rigid-frame truck is idled by conditions one day a week, but an ADT could run on those days, production is increased 25 percent (running five days in- stead of four). Bell says the 4 x 4 design reduces tire scuffing and mechanical com- plexity compared to 6 x 6 drive, while articulation and oscillation preserve much of the performance associated with ADTs. In addi- tion, the dump body on the B60E is shaped more like that of a rigid truck, more box-like with a flat bottom, which makes it easier to load with the excavators and wheel loaders already in use. "The objec- tive in creating the B60E was to preserve production in sub-optimal conditions," says Robin Pett, prod- uct manager at Bell, "but with little or no change to the infrastructure or loading tools customers are cur- rently using." Is 40 the new 35? While some customers may be moving to the biggest ADTs, oth- ers are simply moving to bigger, not biggest. Those who have been using 35-ton ADTs are moving up to 40- and even 45-ton trucks dur- ing the replacement cycle. Doing so improves productivity without making other changes. Haul roads are the same. Loading tools are the same. While loading may now take five or six passes instead of three or four with a smaller truck, "that's still within the window of efficient productivity," says Scott Thomas, senior articulated truck group product application special- ist for North and South America at Caterpillar. Infrastructure that's friendly to big trucks will make North America open to 60-ton trucks, says Thomas, although he expects most of those trucks will go to a site where they will remain for years, and transportability will be an issue only during infrequent July 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 20 machine matters | continued Volvo's new A60H is powered by an inline 6-cylinder engine rated at 495 horsepow- er and 3,200 pound-feet of torque.