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Page 140
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0 ne of the first UK operators to take delivery of the Seddon Atkinson Strato when it was launched two years ago was Bibby Distribution Services, a new company with ambitious growth plans in road and rail distribution.
The arrival of the three Cummins-powered Stratos marked the end of an era in the company's fleet which had been almost entirely dominated by Leyland vehicles when the company traded as Transport and Warehousing Facilities within the Coalite Chemicals Group. Leyland's domination derived from Coalite's Leyland truck franchise.
When Bibby Line bought the company in January 198Z fleet engineer Geoff Mitchell was free to specify the trucks of his choice. Seddon's new Strato held a strong attraction for Mitchell. It offered the Cummins 320, 14-litre engine, Eaton's Twin Splitter gearbox, and the Rockwell rear axle combination he prefers, and Seddon Atkinson 400 series trucks had featured in the fleet in the past.
Bibby Distribution Services is one of a small number of distribution companies currently offering road-rail services to its customers. The company is committed to opening further road-rail depots like its one at Wolverton, Milton Keynes, to deal with European traffic boosted by the Channel Tunnel, and is also reviewing its road transport operations to diversify into new areas.
There are now 12 Stratos in the 200-strong Bibby Distribution fleet. These are either maintained in-house at one of the company's five maintenance departments, or by third parties. One reason Mitchell specified the Cummins, Eaton, Rockwell driveline combination was to simplify maintenance.
Seddon Atkinson has shown its commitment to back-up service in this country by ensuring recalls have been undertaken efficiently at zero cost to BDS, says Mitchell, and he hopes the recent acquisition of a majority stake in Seddon Atkinson's parent company Pegaso will strengthen the back-up in Europe.
Mitchell says the drivers like the Eaton Twin Splitter transmission and comfortable cab of the Strato, but he is not yet prepared to make a detailed comparison with the single Leyland Daf 95 Series which has been in the fleet for the past 12 months. He believes that a truck can only be properly judged on long-term reliability.
So far, both the Stratos and the 95 Series have been subject to recalls, but Mitchell has been sufficiently happy with the performance of the Seddon Atkinson trucks to have taken delivery of three 2-11 rigids with sliding door box van bodies operating at 17 tonnes. They will be pitched against Leyland Dar's Freighter which dominates the 120-strong rigid fleet. Mitchell likes the Freighter but he is prepared to try out the Seddon Atkinson rigids on their merits. For Seddon Atkinson it is a timely moment to get a toe-hold in the Bibby Distribution Services fleet.