The BelAZ 7540 is a 30-tonne mining dump truck listed among the current models of the Belarusian Automobile Plant (BelAZ) in Zhodino. It is the smallest of the plant’s big mining trucks and opens a range that runs through the 45-tonne 7545 and 42–45-tonne 7547 up to the 450-tonne class.
BelAZ 7540 at a glance
| Maker | Belarusian Automobile Plant (BelAZ), Zhodino, Belarus |
|---|---|
| Type | Rigid mining dump truck |
| Payload | 30 t |
| Place in the range | current model range |
| Next models up | 7545 (45 t), 7547 (42–45 t) |
| Plant opened | 1948, as a peat machinery plant |
| BelAZ name | since 1958 |
| First BelAZ dump truck | 1961, 27 t |
| Largest truck of the plant | 450-tonne class (2013) |
| Quality system | ISO 9000 |
| MoAZ merged | 2006 |
| Page source | English Wikipedia article on BelAZ |
The BelAZ 7540 appears in the English Wikipedia only as a 30-tonne entry in the current model range of the plant, so this page is based on that single source and is shorter than usual. No free photograph of the model was found, and the photograph already attached to the record is kept.
History of the BelAZ 7540
A plant built for heavy trucks
BelAZ, the Belarusian Automobile Plant, was built in 1948 as a peat extraction machinery plant by the railway station at Zhodino, and it took the BelAZ name in 1958. It began by building MAZ trucks, and in 1961 it turned out its first 27-tonne pit and quarry dump truck. From that machine grew the line of especially large mining trucks for which the plant is known: it is now one of the world’s largest manufacturers of such trucks and of other heavy transport equipment for the mining and construction industries. In 2006 the Mogilev Automobile Plant (MoAZ) was merged into BelAZ.
The smallest of the big mining trucks
In the current model range of the plant the 7540 stands at the bottom of the mining dump truck list with a payload of 30 tonnes. Above it come the 7545 at 45 tonnes and the 7547 at 42–45 tonnes, then the 55–60-tonne 7555 that has been built since 1994, the 90-tonne 7557 and 7558, and the ever larger 7513, 7517, 7530, 7531 and 7560. The range ends with the 450-tonne class, which the plant reached in 2013.
Engineering and quality control
The plant states that its quality management system, covering research and development, fabrication, erection and after-sales service of the equipment, complies with the international ISO 9000 standards. BelAZ has also been the site of one of the largest investment projects in the Commonwealth of Independent States, with two of the three scheduled phases of technical re-equipment and upgrading completed.
Sanctions since 2021
The plant’s recent history has been affected by international sanctions. On 21 June 2021 BelAZ was added to the sanctions list of the European Union over repressions against workers who took part in the protests that followed the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, and Canada and later Switzerland sanctioned the company as well. On 30 June 2021 Rolls-Royce Holdings ended its cooperation with BelAZ as a result of the EU measures, and Cummins joined the ban in September 2021. In March 2023 the U.S. Treasury put BelAZ and its chief executive on its list of specially designated nationals, and Ukraine imposed sanctions in May 2023.
Design and features
- Thirty-tonne payload: the smallest of the mining dump trucks in the plant’s current range.
- Gateway to the range: the same list runs from the 7540 through the 45-tonne 7545 and 7547 to trucks of the 450-tonne class.
- Built at Zhodino: by the plant that has made mining trucks since its first 27-tonne machine in 1961.
- ISO 9000 quality system: applied to development, fabrication, erection and after-sales service.
BelAZ 7540 versions
- BelAZ-7545: 45 tonnes, the next model up in the same mining range.
- BelAZ-7547: 42–45 tonnes, listed beside the 7545.
- BelAZ-7555: 55–60 tonnes, in production since 1994.
The 7522 that closed the previous thirty-tonne line is described in BelAZ 7522. More trucks of the plant are in the BelAZ collection.
Sources
- BelAZ, English Wikipedia: model range, plant history, quality system, sanctions
