"They are living reliability and fi to their reputation for
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:OnSUMPtiOnPP Dave More One wall in Ross Garrett's office is covered with tl silverware he accumulated on his way to becomir British National truck racing champion in 1997. La year he came within three points of repeating his su cess. Garrett takes the sport seriously—as he does Ii "day job" for the past 16 years, running his From based general haulage company.
Transport manager Dave More looks after a mix fleet of 14 tractive units, including six Renat Premiums, a Magnum, a Scania 143 500 and a coup of Foden Alphas running with flat, curtainsider ar tanker semis. "We heard good reports of the Actri from other hauliers and we now have two 4x2 184c and have just taken delivery of a 6x2 2540," he say "The 184os came with the standard sleeper cab, 50 litre fuel tanks and sliding fifth wheels to suit the cl: ferent pin positions of their own trailers and the tra tion work carried out for customers. They are living t
their reputation for reliability and fuel conumption. Across the fleet we expect to chieve 8mpg—the Actros trio are returning ,etween 8.6 and 9mpg. That's quite good, but iot as good as the Cat-engined Foclen Alphas; hey regularly give us 9.6mpg.
"In the past we have generally preferred to ibtain our vehicles through outright purhase," he adds. "They are major capital assets f the company but recently we have taken ome vehicles on contract hire. The units over about 130,000kin a year so we like to hange them round after about five years. "The Actros front cab mounts have been eplaced," says More. "That's on the earlier ins with the standard sleeper cab. We've had to trouble with the drivetine or the brakes. Aotorway Tyres has the contract to look after our tyres. The whole fleet is checked every seven days and there's no significant difference in tyre wear for the Actros and the other trucks in the fleet Mercedes-Benz parts prices are about on a par with Scania prices. The local service dealer is just so miles away. They are open from 6am to ropm and work in well with our operation.
"We've been looking into the advantages or otherwise of using synthetic engine oil that allows extended drain periods," he says. "They can last for over mo,000km backed up by regular sampling: ours are taken at the six-weekly safety inspection. There appear to be advantages for the environment but the oil is a lot more expensive and it's still too soon to substantiate the claims of up to 2% savings in fuel consumption."