"It was a much better truck than I believed it to be"
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BOB GUSSION
Gussion Transport operates out of a 10-acre site at Whines not far from the M6. MD Bob Gussion started his company back in 1972 and now operates a fleet of 31 trucks transporting bulk oil and chemical products. The firm also refurbishes tankers. Until-mid 1997 most of the fleet were Scanias.
"I asked the local dealer to give me a quote for some trucks to fill a new contract," says Gussion. "The salesman was very slow in coming back. A mate of mine, who once worked for Scania, was then running lvecos. He persuaded me to go along with him to an Iveco ride-and-drive event being held at a local truckstop. This was my first time in a Eurostar and it was a much better truck than I had believed it to be. We went for a drive in the EuroTronic-it was so simple it even changed gear without lifting off the accelerator.
"I wanted to place an order but the Alto cab was too tall for tanker work where we load under gantries," he adds, -It was explained that this was lveco's top-of-the-range model but the salesman thought it could be supplied with a mid-height cab so I ordered four. They were delivered before the Scania dealer
contacted me and since then I've bought a total of 16 EuroTronics from Iveco. Six are EuroTechs with the 380hp engine and the EuroStars are rated at 470hp. "The power units have been faultless," Gussion reports. "We've run them for over 18 months now and there have been some electrical problems, mainly to do with the electronic accelerator. When we have needed to contact the dealer they seemed to know where to go to put it right. The connections are not as waterproof as they might be but it's never prevented the truck from getting home.
"Weight is not critical for us," he says. We are still running some at 38 tonnes but the last six tractive units were 6x2 conversions, arranged by North East Truck and Van, with the mid-lift axle for operation at 41 tonnes. It cost £7,000 but Iveco only offers twin-steer three-axle tractive units. All the work is covered by lveco's all-encompassing three year Millennium warranty package which made it a very good deal. The warranty is only for two years on later trucks."
Tanks have up to eight compartments so Gussion's multi-drop operation involves a diminishing load and running back empty. "The EuroStar 470 gives us up to 10mpg which is better than the 380s and more than we have had from other vehicles in the fleet," he says. "We look after our trucks well, which has enabled us to keep some of our Scanias for ten years. The first of our EuroTronics have now covered over 250,000km and we hope they last as long. We have our own workshops and although we bought them from Sandersons at Manchester they are still serviced by Quicks Trucks, our local Iveco dealer, at Chester. They collect the truck in the evening, service overnight and deliver it back by morning.
"Some of my drivers complain that they do not have the same slow speed control as with a manual and feel uneasy when inching up to a wall, for example," says Gussion. "Others say there is too little for them to do. The cabs come as standard with air conditioning and cruise control and they all have a fridge. Most of our drivers have come to like the EuroTronic and I will continue to buy more of them."