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 
"With a full I the best dm Ckage, they came with
Page 30
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
time." Ron Cheetham
Ken Abram's red and yellow livery is a f; sight on Britain's roads. He started ii haulage in 1962 and now has his HQ on a fly site at Skelmersdale which houses exi warehousing and a workshop that seri. fleet of 60 trucks. "We run Fodens, Met Renaults and Volvos," says operations m; Ron Cheetham (pictured, left). "All 13 of tanners are Foden Alphas—we have been o ing them on general haulage for the p months. We came from Mercedes 1820s bu the Alphas, Foden has moved away from i fashioned image and, with a full R&M pi that covers everything except tyres and they came with the best deal at the time.
"They are all on contract hire over five with modern electronics it is best to I dealer look after them. The 215hp ed to give us better fuel returns so we ve one 235hp with a nine-speed box and es an ex-demonstrator. However, fuel is ).5mpg down on what we got from an lemonstrator.
Foden 18-tonner rigids go where they and are averaging about 120,000km a ach one has a dedicated driver as they : double shifted. They are specified with 1-sided bodies for side and rear access. yload is 10.5 tonnes, and about a tonne th a folding tail-lift.
1 at Liverpool is about 10 miles away. 311 the trucks up as their service is due. Iperate 24 hours a day seven days a We have had a big problem with tart solenoids. So many have failed and eplacements failed that there must be
a shortage now. Tyre wear on the steering axle is terrible. The wheels have been tracked but the wear on the outer edge is so bad that even our tyre contractor has complained.
"Drum brakes are a bit clunky but they work OK. The accelerator cable gets stiff and is changed in service. We have one engine down at the moment: it came in smoking but the cause has yet to be determined. Foden has a continuing problem with leaking radiators on its heavier models and we have just experienced our first with the 18-tonner. Headlight bulbs are a constant problem. Our drivers like the size of the sleeper cab. It's big for a 4x2 rigid although the bed could be wider. The driveline is good, which is a reason to buy more, but every deal is a new deal and we look for the best package on offer."