ScreedPro’s Innovative Scania P380

Words and photography by Howard Shanks

ScreedPro’s new Scania NTG P380 is pumping more than just tiling screed to building and constructions sites around the country, their unique custom-made pump truck is eliminating deadly silica dust and greatly reducing production costs and time while enhancing safety in the workplace.

West Australian headquartered ScreedPro, a wholly Australian owned company, has been supplying commercial grade tiling screed to Australia’s leading floor contractors and builders for over two decades. Over the years they have refined their technology and systems to become the preferred supplier to virtually all major construction projects in Western Australia and rapidly growing on the East Coast.

The introduction of their first new Scania P380 and custom-made trailer a few months ago radically transformed the floor screeding industry overnight. The success of this first unit cemented the future for a total of six new Scania P380 and trailer units scheduled to be on the road before Christmas with a similar roll out schedule planned for 2020.

Before the arrival of the ScreedPro Scania P380 and trailer pumping unit, floor screed was traditionally mixed by hand, then wheelbarrowed into the building.

“There was a lot of manual handling with this process,” NSW General Manager, Les Stockdale explained. “To compound the problem, at high-rise job sites we were always relying on materials hoists and other site infrastructure to get to these upper levels. It was extremely time-consuming and labour intensive. Then there was the problem of storing sand and pallets of cement on-site and the risk of inconsistent mixing and quality control with hand-mixed screed. But ultimately, there were health issues for site workers with silica dust being the biggest problem when opening bags of cement.”

“Roughly 24 months ago we commenced working with a team of Australian and International engineers along with technology suppliers to develop a fully self-contained automatic screed mixing and pumping system,” Les continued. “One of the many challenges was making the unit fit Australian ADR regulations. That’s were Scania came to the party and became an integral partner in the development process. Their help actually made the process a whole lot easier.”

“These new trailer pumps are fully self-contained, sealed systems for automatic mixing and pumping of large volumes of 15 to 50 MPA screed up to 180 metres horizontally and 30 floors vertically,” Les said.

“The tilers love our product because they can get the job done much faster, save time, cost and effort of sourcing raw materials along with the manual mixing and barrowing of screed,” Les added. “Importantly the safety officers love our machines and process because we have eliminated high-risk manual handling and fully eliminated silica dust generation in the mixing of screed.”

Western Australia General Manager, Kevin Andersen added that over the past three years, they’ve been at the forefront in the development of engineered screeds and today their engineered screeds account for over 50 per cent of the screeds they supply.

“Architects, builders and tilers have embraced the significant benefits of these products and we see this trend continuing to grow,” Keven said. “Now with our computer-controlled pump units the mix of our products is engineered with precision and mixed with exacting consistency allowing us to provide a 10-year warranty on our products.”

Eventually, by mid-2020 ScreedPro aim to have depots in all major capital cities. Currently, they have depots based in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.

“We also service regional projects,” Les explained. “That’s the beauty of our system being truck-mounted, we can go virtually anywhere. In fact, last week we sent one Scania P380 on a job 1,000km from Sydney on Sunday for 13-m³ engineered screed job on Monday. That unit arrived back in Sydney ready for an apartment project by 7am Tuesday morning. That’s the beauty of the Scania P380’s performance and reliability.”

When selecting a truck supplier, ScreedPro was looking for much more than the cheapest truck quote, they wanted a transport partner who would be deeply involved in the entire technology development process and fleet rollout and in this regard Scania was the clear choice.

Les Stockdale comments that the Scania Team and the P380 prime movers play a significant role in the initial and ongoing success of their operation. “All through the development process Scania has provided great assistance and not just delivered us a truck but a transport solution, that integrated with and enhanced our pump trailer technology,” Les said.

“They not only look after the service and maintenance of our Scania trucks but they also carry out all the service and maintenance to our trailers’ road running components and they work hand in hand with our specially trained team of engineers who provide the technical support for our mixing and pumping trailer units on the back of the trailers,” he added.

“Scania suggested the P-series model to us because of its low weight cabin with exceptional visibility,” Les explained. “It had all the comfort and safety features we wanted to provide our drivers with like easy cabin access for urban work with a quiet working environment and enough storage space for the odd long-haul trek. Because of the high degree of technology and automation in our system, we had a number of technology requirements which Scania were proactive about incorporating into our build up.”

The NTG P380 certainly ticks all the boxes when it comes to urban driving which often involves many stops and starts with repeated climbing in and out of the cabin. Because the cabin entrance is low, with convenient grab handles this operation is both easy and safer for the driver.

Manoeuvring around tight construction sites requires exceptional concentration and visibility and this is another area where the P380 shines. Because the driver sits high in the cabin they have an outstanding vista forward through the broad curved windscreen and rearward via the wide mirror system. The motorised mirrors can be opportunely rotated to follow the trailer by use of the multifunction mirror switch conveniently located on the driver’s side door armrest.

“There is no question the Scania P380 really is a premium workhorse,” Les added. “When you consider the ease of cabin access, incredible storage options and sleeper area along with the optimised dashboard and on-board entertainment, life on the road for our drivers is extremely comfortable.

These ScreedPro P380 trucks are powered by Scania D13 380HP (283kW) engine coupled to a 14-speed overdrive transmission with Opticrusie shift.

Manoeuvring in and around tight city construction sites is right up the Scania P380’s alley. Conversely, manoeuvring a standard-length tri-axle trailer in and around the same construction sites is a different story altogether. However, that’s another area the ScreedPro team worked tirelessly on, to ensure their new trailers would match the manoeuvrability of the Scania P380, they had them custom built to their exact specifications.

The addition of the Groeneveld auto grease canister fitted to the right-hand leg is probably the first sign an onlooker gets that there is some special running gear in this trailer that requires regular lubrication, and that’s what prompts a further look underneath.

A quick glance at the skid plate on the trailer reveals the telltale signs of Jost’s Tridec hydraulic steerable suspension. The system utilises a hydraulic linkage between the fifth wheel coupling plate and axle assemblies employing hydraulic cylinders. Besides, additional manoeuvrability can be achieved with the use of the wireless remote manual override system to get the trailer in and out of the tightest sites.

BPW ECO Plus2 axle with a pivoting hub on either end of the axle is coupled to the Tridec steering suspension. The use of wide 385/65R22.5 super single tyres gives on the Tridec suspension give the trailer greater steering angle than if the traditional dual tyre were fitted. The trailer’s smart braking system is BPW-Wabco combination commonly found on many Australian built trailers which means parts commonality and maintenance is simplified.

This innovative Scania P380 and its state-of-the-art trailer are certainly pioneering a new approach to productivity, cost reduction, quality enhancement and workplace safety in not just the building industry, but transport as well.

 

Truck Specs:

Model                        Scania P380 6×4

Engine                        Scania DC13 380 13-Litre inline-6-Cylinder

Horsepower              380 hp (283) kW @1900 RPM

Torque                       1400 lb/ft (1900Nm) @ 1000-1300 RPM

Gearbox                     Scania GRSO905R 14-speed Overdrive

Gearbox shift            Opticruise

Retarder                    Scania R3500

Alternator                   Scania 24V 100amp

Compressor              Knorr 720CR, twin cylinder, 800 L/min with air dryer

Propeller Shaft         P604

Steering Box             ZF8098 17-20:1

Front Axles                Scania AM420S

Front Suspension     2 x 32 Parabolic

Rear Axles                Scania AD200SA axle housings

Rear Axle Ratio        3.42:1 with diff locks to both axles

Rear Suspension     Scania Air

Brakes                        Scania electronically controlled disc brakes

Tyres                          Bridgestone 295/80R22.5R

Safety                         EBS with integrated ABS and traction control

Wheelbase                3150mm

Cab Tilt                      Electronic

Interior                        Vinyl & Textile Trim

Seats                          Medium driver’s seat velour black

Battery Box               2x12V, 180-amp Chassis mount LH side

Fuel Tank                  1 x 300L R/H side & 1 x 400L L/H side

Adblue tank               1 x 80L R/H side