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"I think that the best feature of the 124s has to be driver comfort"
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Page 33
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Damien Grove
Ray C Smith Haulage started life as a coal merchant 33 years ago at Ketton near Stamford, and it moved to Corby just seven years ago. Today the company is well established in general haulage and warehousing, with three of its four sites located around Corby.
Its fleet of 33 vehicles range from 3.5tonne panel vans to 44-tonne artics. Out of TS tractive units, there are II Volvos, two MANs and four Scanias.
"Although we appear to be predominantly Volvo with our heavier vehicles, we have more Scanias spread throughout the fleet as a whole and have just ordered four more 124 420 tractors, all with Topline cabs, plus one rigid chassis.
"Three of our existing Scanias are 124 420s and one is a 144 530. We operate six of our tractors and 12 double-deck trailers in a customer's livery," says fleet manager Damien Grove.
"The 124s are all rated at 44 tonnes and cover 230,00km a year including some Continental work, but mostly in the UK. We have a basic payload of 25 tonnes, and keep within that to ensure we stay legal. Across the fleet, the 1245 average 8.ompg which we're happy with—but the 114 53o with the big V8 has returned up to ii.ompg on a long run to the south of Spain.
"Until 18 months ago, up to Go% of our trucks were on lease contracts. We have turned that round dramatically to 8o% purchased. We found it was costing so much money cosmetically to bring the trucks up to the standard required at the end of the term, that hire purchase (with its associated VAT benefits) seemed to be a better financial decision.
"We keep them for three years, with the first two covered by the manufacturer's free service terms. We look after them in-house after that until we replace them. Appearance is a big thing with us so, with our mileage, three years seems to be the right length of time to keep them. The resale value starts to drop off after that. We part-exchange, and we are satisfied with the prices as they are at the moment.
"Out of the three we bought in 2001, one had an engine problem. It dropped a valve and wrecked the engine. It had a 'no quibble' short block replacement by Scania. The most consistent failures with Scanias have been starter motors and clutch slave cylinders. The i4-speed Scania box has the slave cylinder mounted inside the bell housing which makes it a very lime-consuming job to replace. On early 4-Series models, the drag link
fouled the stop bolts, and the front tyres used to scuff on the inside. Neither problem occurs now.
"Our local dealer, Derek Jones Corby, is just a to-minute walk away. It gives really good service, which is why we went back there for our new Scanias this year. While some drivers prefer the FH Volvo Globetrotter cab, others are just as keen on the Topline. The power and torque are adequate for us at 44 tonnes, and Scalia is on a par with other like-powered trucks. With cab items like the lift-up steering, fold flat gear lever and walk-through cab, I think that the best feature of the 1245 has to be driver comfort," he concludes.