The Unimog conquers Glacier National Park
in Utah, USA.

With over 1.4 million acres of rugged and glacial landscapes, breath-taking alpine meadows, forests and lakes it is blessed with some of the world's most spectacular scenery. Along the magnificent Going-to-the-Sun road which winds through the various grand vistas, one has the rare opportunity to experience the plentiful wildlife with well over 260 bird and 70 mammal species.

The maintenance of this vast national park is a challenge for the experienced Glacier National Park Service Crew but manageable with the proper logistics, fleet and implements. On November 15th, 2005, Mr. Doug Flewelling of Freedom Freightliner – Spokane Washington, dedicated Unimog salesman in Northeast Washington, was able to hand over two U 500s to Glacier National Park. Dr. Thomas-Axel Stenske, Head of Unimog Sales at Mercedes-Benz, Special Trucks Department, Woerth in Germany was present and assisted with the hand over.

With the National Park Service's large fleet of 3 graders, 2 dozers, 3 rotary snow blowers and 1 excavator the two new multi-purpose implement carriers are a welcomed addition to the fleet. "We are excited to get the Unimogs on the road" remarks Shaun Bessinger, Glacier National Park Service, Group leader. Due to the fact that all national park services of the U.S. Department of the Interior are faced with cost and fleet reduction the only way to continue to do their jobs properly, efficiently and safely is with the right vehicle and implement-solution like the Unimog U 500 with winter service package. While in the purchasing process the Unimog really convinced them of its implement operating comfort and efficiency, when plowing snow in the most torturous conditions, it exceeded their expectations especially when compared to their previous vehicles – the 1982 and 1983 Autocar.

The Unimogs are equipped with an Assaloni V snow plow and a Swenson spreader which can distribute either salt, grit and gravel. But these implements only mark the beginning. In order to maintain the 100 miles of asphalted and 120 miles of gravel roads, and to make the Unimog absolutely efficient, the crew is already talking about adding different implements to the all-year-around multi-tasker. For spring all the way through to autumn applications they want to purchase a boom mower for road-side work, a loading crane for diverse operations, a rotary jet tool for canal and pipe cleaning, and for extreme snow removal jobs a rotary snow blower to assist the other fleet members when opening up the "Big Drift" pass in the spring of 2006.

"If this Unimog and implement combination solution proves itself, we will show other national park services 'what the Unimog multi-tasker does do'." says Shaun.

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