Five of the best
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Transco is about to place a huge order for vehicles-800 in all. It has whittled possible manufacturers down to five and has entered the detailed testing stage. It leaves nothing to chance and involves many of its staff who use the vehicles in the selection, as Bryan Jarvis discovers.
• Senior drivers and procurement officers from around Transco's regions have taken part in an evaluation programme aimed at helping the company choose the right trucks to support its gas supply service. The company is looking at replacing about 800 existing 5.0 to 26-tonners in its 7,300strong fleet.
Having previously determined the financial details, The Leasing Group and Transco have now placed performance and driver acceptability under the microscope.
The agreement with Leasing (a sister British Gas firm) is the prelude to an initial order for 76 new vehicles which will be purchased by Leasing then leased back to Transco.
Five manufacturers were shortlisted from 11 potential suppliers. Each submitted a selection of tender vehicles for the hands-on assessment, from heavy panel vans to three-axled tippers equipped with hydraulic loading grabs.
Evaluated
Like last year's exercise, which evaluated CVs up to 3.5 tonnes, pairs of senior Transco operatives, driving instructors and procurement officers cast their eyes over the trucks submitted by the chosen five.
These were typical working vehicles from similar end-users, self-drive rental firms or dealer demo fleets.
Bidding for glory were Iveco and Mercedes-Benz with panel vans, and these two with Leyland Daf, MAN and Seddon Atkinson at 7.5 and 17 tonnes GVW. lveco, Leyland Daf and Seddon also came head-to-head at 26 tonnes gross.
The mixed fleet was shared among the drivers and taken on a one-hour, 40km round trip through Reading and along the M4. Afterwards, teams completed a written assessment of each vehicle based on many criteria including visibility, manoeuvrability, braking and their performance levels.
Recognising that drivers spend vast amounts of driving and working time with vehicles, Transco also asked for their views on cab and equipment ergonomics, seating comfort, storage space, accessibility and the vehicles as a whole.
Those fitted with special equipment such as tipper bodies and loading cranes were also scrutinised from the operator safety angle. This included items such as the positioning and suitability of controls, access steps and handrails.
While the drivers completed their assessment, the event organisers were busy addressing two other vital elements in Transco's buying formula: average speeds and fuel consumption. On completing each vehicle's final run out, fuel-tank-top measurements were taken and individual tacho charts were examined and compared.
Once the final analyses are completed, orders will be placed in phases.
According to Transco's fleet support manager Peter Babbage: "It's all part of the company's on-going review of fleet contracts which collectively are worth L76m over the next seven years."
Leasing Group and Transco have already evaluated a wide range of vehicles and have made whole-life maintenance, operating and residual value projections, including data for those shortlisted. But both companies place great faith in their driver assessment programme.
Constructive
Paul Reeve, a supplies and procurement officer for Transco, with an area stretching from Milton Keynes to the South Coast, sees the exercise as useful and constructive.
One outstanding vehicle was the Iveco 260E27 6x4 tipper from Maun Motors' self-drive fleet. Fitted with a Transweld tipper body and HMF crane it had under 1,000km on the clock and still needed to loosen up. The brakes also needed bedding-in but he thought the ride and handling were excellent.
"Some organisations might just go for the cheapest option," says Reeve, "but this way Transco can identify the most suitable vehicles."
Another senior operative from Transco's Hadrian district, Tony Parker, also sees the value in trying the vehicles at first hand. He's usually involved in transporting coils of piping, spoil and steel-plate trench cov
ers so his attention also focused on tipping and loading controls.
A Leyland Daf 75-270 6x4 tipper certainly impressed him, as did the HMF loading crane. "The Dafs got loads of power," he says, "but the double-H eight-speed box has too many gears for town work. That apart, I can't fault it."
Manufacturers seem to endorse Transco's approach to fleet selection. Merc's John Clifton doesn't know of another customer that involves its staff in such a way pr gives a full debrief following a tendering exercise. "That's extremely useful in itself." he says.
Interesting
Iveco's direct sales manager, David Clare, thought it was interesting—much better than just sticking a tender in and waiting for an answer. Transco prefers to try out specialist trucks but he finds it difficult to get the right ones down to this sort of event. He thinks Iveco's in with a good chance but stresses: "Whatever the decision, it's certainly a more transparent way of tendering."
Babbage believes the exercise helps strike the right balance between costs and the operational needs of the staff. "After all," he says, "we have to run the business efficiently but the drivers also need to be happy in their working environment."