1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
RAWLINGS TRANSPORT
Page 47
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Rawlings Transport was founded 33 years ago at Hook;with the advent of timed deliveries it grew into a regional distribution company carrying all manner of goods UK director Paul Rawlings is in the third generation to carry on the family business.
"Our policy is to buy top-of-the-range trucks to attract good drivers and keep them. Some have been with us over 20 years.
"I think that most of the top models fall within the same ballpark so we have a pretty relaxed attitude in what we decide to buy. We encourage our more established drivers to have their say and,within certain bounds. try to satisfy their aspirations.
"Our first Renault Magnum 4x2 tractor came in 1998/99 with a T-regist rat ion.The trucks are plated at 41 tonnes and we rarely run fully laden.Twenty-three tonnes is about our maximum payload but our trailers are a bit on the heavy side fitted out with side skirts. We bought a 480 this year and.due to expansion. we have another on order—the driver asked to come off his Scania 144 Topline to drive it.
It is not a truck that suits them alL other drivers love their Scanias. We buy two or three trucks every year to keep the fleet looking fresh. Scania seems to ask for higher prices while, in our experience, Mercedes is the lowest with Volvo and Renault coming in between, but there's not much between them.
"Our trucks cover 90.000I 00,000km a year. We plan to keep them for five years, and up to seven if their performance and r ability warrants it.We eli normally buy outright with finance over three years;that gives us the freedom to keep them longer or sell them earlier when and where we want.We get the best values from independent second-hand dealers.
"Fuel consumption is good. Our Volvos are the only ones that struggle to match the high nines and low lOs that we average across the fleet.
"All main dealers are very professional today and Renault Trucks at Reading is no exception.The Magnums come with the first two years service before we take them inhouse.The backup is pretty good. -Some drivers might complain that the ride in the cab is a bit wavy but those who drive them love the living space with the cab's self-levelling suspension and some of the simple things like the thermally-efficiet electrically-operated blinds all round that help to keep the cab warm at night.
"Until now we haven't had any problem! at all.As operators. vehicle reliability is fundamental in being able to provide the service our customers expect.We are able t achieve that with these top-of-therange trucks.".