"Our maintenance costs remain at an acceptable level."
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Dave Worral
With diverse interests ranging from shipping to boiler maintenance, JR Rix, based in Hull, is one of the UK's top 100 PLCs. Among its subsidiaries is Rix Petroleum, which supplies more than 200 independent filling stations and operates 24 of its own sites throughout the Yorkshire Ridings, Lincolnshire and the Midlands. The company also boasts a client base of better than 20,000 customers for fuel, oils and lubricants in the commercial, agricultural and domestic heating sectors.
Operations manager Dave Worral says: "Out of the 40 vehicles we run 30 are Seddon Atkinsons and the rest are Scanias. Among those 20 are six-wheelers, which are the workhorses of the fleet. Historically we have purchased Seddon Atkinson 26.280s but just this year we have specified the more powerful 26.305s. Current prices are comparable to those of other chassis cabs and this year the deal included two years' repair and maintenance. Another part of our company, Rix Truck Services, has a Seddon Atkinson parts franchise so it will repair and service our new vehicles.
"Road Tankers Northern of Barnsley has built our tankers for the past 10 years. This year's vehicles will be fitted with aluminium tanks and Alfons Ham's latest metering equipment to carry petroleum products, The trucks travel some 70,000km annually between Whitby in North Yorkshire and the Wash in the South. Into West Yorkshire and parts of the North Midlands. Our main depot is in Hull and we backioad product from Lindsey Oil Refinery whenever possible so I suppose we run fully laden for about 65% of the time.
"The SPOCifiC gravity of the product determines the load volume but we have a payload capacity of 16.25 tonnes, which suits our operation delivering products to farmers, hauliers and domestic customers. On average we achieve 7.45mpg with the SA 26.280s on this type of workâthe Scanias return an average of 8.36mpg. The engines are OK but the Eaton gearboxes tend to fail prematurely. The life of the brake linings depends on which driver operates which vehicle but
on average they last for 12 months. Ifs a similar story with the tyres, but w expect them to last for about 80,000km.
"When we purchase a chassis-cab for, say, 148,000 we then spend as mudl again on the tank build, which is the reason we keep them for 10 years. How w dispose of the vehicles is largely dictated by the marketplace. Some we exporl others we strip and sell the bowsers for static storage. These chassis are ofte converted into tippers. We sold two just recently complete, but I won't tell yo how much for. We have bought vehicles from Knottingley Trucks for many year nd expect to continue to do so for as long s Seddon Atkinson maintains Its Quality tandards and of course purchase price. The dealer's service and backup has eon second to none.
"This year we have moved away from the C-Series to the M11 engine rated t 305hp which, hopefully, will achieve a longer life and better fuel economy. aving said that, our maintenance costs remain at an acceptable level so eddon Atkinson's lightweight six-wheeler must be standing up to the job."