Most Popular 16 Wheeler Trucks in India with Price
After the marvelous success of 37 ton GVW trucks (14 wheeler trucks so to say), the craze for recently introduced and upcoming 16 wheeler trucks is gaining momentum. Frequently getting spotted now a days, the pics shared by truck fans are going viral on social media.
Multi Axle Trucks in India's An Instant Hit
Rigid trucks offer certain advantages over tractor trailers in terms of ease of driving, no requirement of specialized drivers (unlike tractor trailers), lesser toll tax, etc. And this is the reason why the introduction of higher GVW trucks in the rigid category becomes an immediate success story. Same happened when Tata 3118 and Ashok Leyland 3116 were introduced almost a decade back, taking the then existing 10 tyre trucks category a step up. It is to be noted that 3116 got upgraded to Ashok Leyland 3118 later.
Another blockbuster hit was seen a few years ago when the bar was raised from usual 31 tonners (12 tyre trucks) to 37 tonners (14 tyre trucks). All the commercial vehicle manufacturers realized tremendous gain in volumes on account of these 14 wheeler trucks, be it Ashok Leyland 3718, Tata 3718, Eicher Pro 6037, Mahindra Blazo 37 or BharatBenz 3723.
While the tag axle option in Tata 3718 and Mahindra Blaxo 37 did not gain much traction, but the pusher lift axle models were a hot selling cake. And therefore, immediately both these heavy truck manufacturers also introduced pusher lift axle options, similar to Ashok Leyland 3718 and Eicher Pro 6037.
16 Tyre Trucks in India
LPT 4323.T from Tata trucks stable gained massive popularity when it was displayed at the Auto Expo 2018 in Greater Noida. This Tata 16 wheeler truck with 6 axles in 12x2 configuration, had both a tag lift axle as well as pusher lift axle. There was a 6 ton incremental GVW gain, translating into almost a similar extra payload.
And soon after, were seen the Ashok Leyland 16 wheeler trucks & Eicher 16 wheeler trucks, named as 4123 and Pro 6041 respectively. However, instead of single tyre lift axle as in the case of Tata 4323.T, both these Indian trucks had twin tyre lift axle offering a 10x2 axle configuration.
Though the incremental load capacity in 6 axle variant is higher than 5 axle , but the transporters out there seem to be more crazy for these simpler looking 10x2 trucks. To avoid giving an open playing field to competition, Tata Motors has also quickly come up with their own 5 axle truck & badged it as Tata Signa 4823.T / LPT 4823 !
Also Read : Eicher Pro 6041 and Eicher Pro 6049 heavy duty trucks launched
Increased Axle Loading Norms
Meanwhile due to increased axle load norms from government’s side, the existing range of 37 tonners have also touched GVW of 42 tons, thus allowing the transporters to load more freight in the same 14 wheeler trucks. Owing to this increased GVW in existing models, while some of the commercial vehicle manufacturers in India have increased their engine power ratings along with other necessary changes in braking, tyre size & steering systems, some have kept the power rating same.
Related More : Govt raises axle load capacity of trucks & tractor trailers
Hence, the earlier known Tata 3718 got rechristened as Tata LPT 4223 , Signa 4223.T, with a higher 230 HP max power instead of earlier 180 HP.
Eicher Pro 6037 got rechristened as Pro 6042. Hinduja group 14 wheeler truck as new Ashok Leyland 4218 and 3723 from Daimler India Commercial Vehicles as BharatBenz 4223* with the same power rating.
New Names of 16 Wheeler Trucks
The same effect of increased axle loading norms when applied to the recently introduced 16 wheeler trucks in India, takes the GVW to an all time high of touching close to half a century. Ashok Leyland 4123 and Eicher Pro 6041 will reach a GVW node of 48 tons and accordingly get rechristened as Ashok Leyland 4823* and Eicher Pro 6048 respectively. Whereas Tata 4323.T with 12x2 axle configuration is now offered as Tata 4923.T
To sum up, while its an equal fight between Tata trucks, Ashok Leyland trucks and Eicher Trucks in the 10x2 configuration, Tata Motors is sweeping a 100% share of wallet when it comes to 12x2 configuration.