bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motortakes road haulage
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very seriously. However, once a week our quirky correspondent, the Hawk, steps off his perch to take a humorous look at the industry to keep us all sane. If you have any off-beat yams that illustrate the stranger, or sillier, side of the business, he'd like to hear from you. As a softhearted old bird, he's also happy to publicise charitable works— and is always interested in events for the vintage vehicles he drove as a fledgling. Drop the Hawk a line at Commercial Motor, Bird's Eye View, Rm H203, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, or fax him on 0181 652 8969.
here are some that would say size doesn't matter, but farmer Wilfred Mole of Sandstone Estates Farms in Eastern Free State, South Africa, would beg to differ.
Mr Mole (best not to mention Ratty or Toad) found that the conventional agricultural grain trailer that he was using for his combine harvesters was simply not big enough. The distances between field and silo are so great in South Africa that the trailers were not able to keep up with the combines and the harvest was delayed.
As the farm already had a Kenworth tractor unit, Maley (I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I dropped the formalities) made enquiries in America, but its biggest trailers were not up to the job at 28 tonnes maximum gross weight.
The problem was solved when machinery importer Robert Coles met Fruehauf's Royston Morris over here in blighty. Fruehauf's 70yd3, 50-tonne gross tipper was just the ticket. A heavy-duty top rail, extra ribs, 10-tonne axles, an 8mm floor and a donkey engine were added to make sure it was equal to the task. Sorted!
It goes to prove that not everything in the US of A is bigger and better.