A new piece of heavy equipment eye candy as replaced the Western Star 6900XD on the Tracey Road Equipment display pad, the Roadtec SB2500e, aka, the Shuttle Buggy. The idea behind the shuttle buggy is to remove the inefficiencies in asphalt delivery that lead to substandard paving jobs. Acting as a large mobile hopper the SB2500e allows for trucks to unload and return the batch plant in shorter run times. This quick turn around time requires a smaller number of trucks necessary to keep the pavement train rolling, an important note in the age of qualified driver shortages. The Roadtec also allows for the paver to enter previously difficult terrain like banked shoulders and small parking lots thanks to it movable material chute. It’s a wonder you don’t see this machine more often with all the benefits that it provides. If you’re up for some light bedtime reading Roadtec has entire paper that outlines all the challenges you can meet when using a Shuttle Buggy. Don’t worry, there are plenty of pictures and diagrams to keep your interest.
The other purpose of shuttle-buggy, transfer pavers or remix papers is to remix the asphalt and correct thermal segregation that has happened to the mix in transport.
They also provide a buffer between the truck and the paver. This serves two purposes. First it allows the paver to move forward at a constant speed (it doesn’t have to wait for a truck) which helps keep the screed from settling, which can lead to bumps. Second since the truck doesn’t have to get close to the paver it doesn’t bump into it, leaving a bump behind it in the asphalt mat.
The main drawback is that they are expensive to own and operate as there are a lot of moving parts. It adds another thirsty engine to the paving spread and another operator to the crew.