Yeardley slams lack of Euro-6 supply By Robin Meczes WEST
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YORKSHIRE-based Brian Yeardley Continental said it is "disappointed" that new Euro-6 trucks cannot be delivered by some vehicle suppliers in the UK yet.
MD Kevin Hopper said the firm wanted to trial Euro-6 tractors from Iveco, Scania and Volvo from May or June this year, before placing an order in September for new trucks to replace 12 older Volvo models in early 2014. However, only Volvo can provide a Euro-6 truck of the required specification before late 2013 and, given its lead times, even this would not have been available until July or August.
Hopper said: "We are disappointed as we hoped we would have been in a position to order the new Euro-6 engines in the new models early this year. I'm told by everyone other than Volvo that Euro-6 will result in poorer fuel consumption, but we will not know until we have a truck to test."
The firm has instead opted to trial Euro-5 or EEV models from the three manufacturers, which it will test for three months alongside seven new Euro-5 Daf XF105s, which it brought into operation in 2012. All will be used on international work at 40-tonne GVVV.
The company will monitor the fuel consumption and reliability of the four marques and will choose one of them for its new trucks. The 9.5mpg already averaged on longhaul work by the seven Dafs will be "hard to beat", Hopper added. A Volvo spokesman confirmed new models of Euro-6 vehicles would not be delivered in the UK until mid to late July; while an Iveco spokesman said right-hand-drive order entry would not begin until June, with typical lead times of three months.
A Scania spokesman said that although some of its Euro-6 engines had been available for some time, others would not be available for delivery until the end of the year.
TRUCK SALES FAIL TO IGNITE Figures released last week by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that first-quarter registrations of new trucks of 6-tonne GVW and over are 15.5% behind last year. This sluggish start runs against industry forecasts that truck registrations in the 6-tonne-plus sector this year would be 8% to 10% higher than in 2012, as operators accelerate replacement programmes to beat the arrival of Euro-6 at the end of the year.