A Georgia transport company recently utilized a Kenworth W900 to deliver a 120-ton electric power plant for shipment to Tanzania on the world's largest plane.

Though David Wild has watched the six-turbofan engine, 276-foot-long Antonov AN-225 land several times, he still gets chills every time he watches the world's largest aircraft touch down.

Wild is the owner of Wild Heavy Haul, a LaGrange, Ga.-based transport company, which specializes in loading and hauling super-sized loads including mining, oil drilling and power generating equipment. When Antonov Airlines, the plane's owner in Kiev, Ukraine, has especially large items to transport from locations in North America, Wild said, his company is one of the few heavy haulers that Antonov trusts to load its one-of-a-kind plane, also known as Mriya, which means "dream" or "inspiration" in Ukrainian.

With a length nearly that of a football field, the plane is 44 feet longer than a Boeing 747-400 and has a 65-foot wider wingspan. It has made several trips from North America since it started commercial airlift service three years ago. Wild Heavy Haul has been there six times to load or unload the giant plane. Fully loaded, the AN-225 can carry 275 tons of equipment, supplies or other items.

To handle the ground transport end, Wild uses his Kenworth W900s.

One of Wild's Kenworth W900s recently transported a 120-ton electric power plant, built by General Electric and Elizabethtown, N.C.-based Vulcan Amps, more than 100 miles to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where the AN-225 arrived to pick it up and deliver it to the east African country of Tanzania. The 132-foot-long, 24-megawatt power plant is the world's largest "portable" generator.

"Antonov Airlines counted on our expertise and our knowledge to transport and load this huge generator onto its plane quickly, safely and efficiently," said Wild.

Wild notes that the W900 is well suited to the application.

"Kenworth dealers and Kenworth application engineers helped develop truck specifications that work for our business," Wild said, adding, "We're able to tell them the specifications we want in our Kenworth trucks and they work with us to build what we want and need."

The Kenworth W900 that transported the generator to the airport was purchased earlier this year. It is equipped with a 565-horsepower engine, 18-speed transmission, 46,000-pound suspension with locking rear differentials, a 20,000-pound steer axle, double-frame, and a large 1,430-square-inch radiator. Wild Heavy Haul also recently bought a second Kenworth W900 which will be equipped with planetary hub reduction axles and enter into service soon.

The company used another similarly spec'd W900, on loan from a Kenworth dealer, to load the generator onto the plane.

"We routinely get repeat business," he says, "because of our ability to move things without major difficulties."

Staff
February 19, 2007
Dixie Contractor