Southern Stars - VOLK Electric Tow Tractor and Industrial Trailers in Charleston, South Carolina

<H1>Herzlich Willkommen bei VOLK Fahrzeugbau GmbH!<H1> Fahrersitzwagen und Fahrersitzschlepper mit Elektro-, Diesel-, Hybrid- und Treibgasantrieb für den Einsatz in der Industrie, auf Flughäfen und im kommunalen Bereich.


	Southern Stars – VOLK Electric Tow Tractors and

Industrial Trailers in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina, 24.07.2008 – It is one of the peculiarities of international trade that it is sometimes expedient to manufacture products almost to completion in their country of origin and subsequently dismantle them into subassemblies for export. These are then reassembled at their final destination. This “Completely Knocked Down (CKD)” procedure, as it is known in technical terminology, is primarily used in order to by-
pass tariff and trade barriers.

The import duty on vans in the U.S., for example, is no less than 25 %. The Sprinter models sold by Daimler AG in the U.S. are therefore nearly completely assembled at the German locations in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde and then dismantled into component groups before shipping. The component groups are then exported in containers to the southern U.S. port of Charleston. In the town of Ladson, just a few miles away, Daimler opened a new assembly plant last year where the component groups are reassembled and outfitted with the em-




	The Sprinter assembly plant operated by Daimler AG in Ladson, S.C. has a production area of approximately 43.000 square meters and is designed for an annual production capacity of 32.000 units.

blems of the Daimler commercial vehicle brand „Freightliner“. Approximately 70 vehicles a day are currently pro-
duced in this manner.

The plant, in which fire engines of the former Freightliner subsidiary American LaFrance were produced until re-
cently, was converted by Daimler for Sprinter assembly to the tune of 30 million Euros. With a production area of
43.000 square meters, it is designed for an annual capacity of up to 32.000 units. Thus the company is well pre-
pared for the increasing sales enjoyed by the Sprinter series due to its unusually low fuel consumption by American standards and its high degree of safety with ESP as standard equipment.

As in its German plants, Daimler also uses VOLK vehicles for internal transport in Ladson. With a loading area




	VOLK Electric Tow Tractor EFZ 6 K and five VOLK Industrial Trailers 5.000 prior to shipment to the United States

	of 5.40 x 2.45 meters, the industrial trailers supplied by VOLK are large enough to accommodate an entire Sprinter body shell. To achieve a small turning radius in spite of their large dimensions, the trailers are equipped with an all-wheel steering knuckle drive. For towing, the VOLK Electric Tow Tractor EFZ 6 K is used. This features a powerful AC drive and has a tow- ing capacity of up to 6.000 kg. To guarantee uninter- rupted use during multi-shift operation, the vehicle is operated with exchange batteries, each with a capacity of 24 V/625 Ah.

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