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An Indian mining and logistics company is running three long-lasting Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) wheel loaders that, combined, have logged an incredible 150,000 hours on the job.
Sainik Mining and Allied Services, one of the largest contract mining and logistics companies in northeastern India, is also a big Volvo CE customer, with over 30 of Volvo’s heavyweight EC460 excavators and 11 wheel loaders of various models working in the region.
Many of these machines are on the job 16 hours a day, seven days a week, in Gevra – Asia’s largest open cast mine, located near Korba in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh – as well as on other projects.
Open since 1981, the busy Gevra mine has, at one time, produced as many as 100,000 tons of coal in a single day. Sainik’s machines work 16 hours a day seven days a week loading the coal into railway cars, where it is transferred for boiler firing at power plants around India.
What’s remarkable about Sainik’s fleet is that it includes three Volvo wheel loaders that have each clocked more than 50,000 hours. The latest machine to cross 51,000 hours is an L120E that was purchased in 2004, while another – an L120D – has put in an incredible 54,000 hours. Those are big milestones – particularly for the wheel loaders at work in the brutal tropical conditions of Chhattisgarh, where temperatures can sometimes reach a sweltering 48° C.
For its wheel loaders, Sainik holds ‘blue’ customer service agreements with the dealer SVP Mining and Technology, and thus far, the wheel loaders have only had to have routine maintenance and overhauls conducted.
“We are very happy with our Volvo wheel loaders,” says operations manager Satish Kadian. “Because of their longevity and reliability, we want to purchase more of these machines as we gradually retire the older ones. We’re working with Volvo CE to have them buy back some of our older wheel loaders so that we can make room for new equipment.”
Buying back older equipment helps to reuse and recycle parts that are still in good condition – enforcing Volvo CE’s core values and its dedication to environmental care. It also helps the customer to generate more cash-flow to invest in new machinery.
But for now, the three veteran wheel loaders are still going strong, and Satish says Sainik will continue using them in the mines as long as they’re equal to the task. Which, at the rate they’re going, could be a very long time indeed.
Source: Volvo News Room
