"We have never had a problem with Volvo. We have always found their trucks
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to be reliable."Nick Brown MI Demolition specialist Brown &Mason has its head office in Southwark, London, which is where CM caught up with managing director Nick Brown. "Our special area of activity is with power stations," he told us. "We have been in business for 40 years and have run Volvos for a good many of those. We have also operated some other makes in the past, but today we have an all-Volvo fleet consisting of one FI-116 520, an FI2 420 Globetrotter and two FMio 360 tractive units, plus one FL7 eight-wheeler that operates with a Hiab.
"The FHIG and FI2 are used with low-loader trailers in support of our large fleet of plant equipment. We bought both FMros in October i999. After operating Fio and F Los for a number of years it seemed that the FMro was the next logical step, while the 9.6-litre engine was still available. The main difference was that we specified the more powerful 36ohp version for operation at 40 tonnes, whereas we were limited to 32ohp on the earlier models. They are competitive price-wise with other makes.
"One runs from West Wales and the other from Newcastle each day, travelling to the Midlands with non-ferrous metals for recycling. Each truck covers over i2o,000 miles a year, but only half of that is with a load. Depending on the workload, we normally keep them for four years. When we moved up to 40 tonnes gross, the payload rose from 21 to 23 tonnes. Our tri-axle 6oyd.3 steel skip trailers are quite heavy.
"We have never had a problem with Volvo. We have always found their trucks reliable. Much of the running ear has been carried forward from earlier models, so it's as well proven as it is ever going to be, and we haven't had any problems with the higher rated engine either. The new cab stands up well. Although it is not as spacious as the old Fro it has more room than the FLio.
"We have large workshops that look after our plant, so all the servicing of road-going vehicles is also done inhouse. We deal with MC Truck and Bus at Maidstone who give us good back-up on parts. They have just reconditioned the FEL6's engine, but that's the only work we've put their way for a long time.
"Naturally, all our drivers would like to be driving Flir6s, but the FM 360 has sufficient power for the work, even at the higher operating weight. We are happy with our Volvos and don't have any reason to change." 1111