Heavy Metal 797 fleet to hit 131: planning and haulage takeaways for mines
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Heavy Metal Equipment & Rentals is expanding its ultra-class haul truck offering to 131 Caterpillar 797s by end-2026, after acquiring 45 used units and ordering 10 new 797Fs from dealer Finning to add to its existing fleet of 76 trucks. The Canadian rental specialist is targeting large Canadian oil sands and hard-rock operations that need short- to medium-term access to 360–400 t class trucks without capex. For mine planners, the enlarged common fleet simplifies spares, operator training and haul profile standardisation across multiple sites.
Technical Brief
- Fleet growth is driven by 45 acquired used Caterpillar 797s plus 10 new 797Fs from Finning.
- Heavy Metal Equipment & Rentals becomes one of the world’s largest ultra-class haul truck lessors by count.
- All trucks are rigid-frame 797s, enabling consistent structural behaviour and maintenance regimes across the fleet.
- Sourcing includes both dealer-supplied new units and secondary-market used units, diversifying procurement channels and lead times.
- Concentration on a single OEM and model simplifies component stocking, rebuild planning and drivetrain interchangeability.
- Rental model shifts mine haulage from capex to opex, affecting project NPV and contract mining tender structures.
- Ultra-class truck availability at fleet scale supports rapid ramp-up or brownfield expansion without long OEM build queues.
- Common 797 platform aids standardisation of haul road design parameters, loading unit match and dump geometry across sites.
Our Take
Caterpillar also features in recent coverage for autonomous and battery-electric haulage trials with Vale, BHP and Rio Tinto, so Heavy Metal Equipment & Rentals’ focus on conventional 797s in Canada suggests parallel demand for high-capacity diesel fleets alongside emerging autonomy and BEV deployments.
Scaling a rental fleet of 797-class trucks to 131 units by end-2026 positions Heavy Metal Equipment & Rentals as a significant third-party capacity provider for Canadian bulk operations, potentially giving mid-tier miners access to ultra-class haulage without committing to full fleet ownership.
With 10 new 797F units on order from Finning, this build-out underlines the strategic role of Cat dealers in Canada as financing and lifecycle-support intermediaries, similar to how dealer Sotreq is central to Vale’s autonomous truck expansion in Brazil in our recent coverage.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.