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Keeping the fleet going

19th March 2009, Page 52
19th March 2009
Page 52
Page 52, 19th March 2009 — Keeping the fleet going
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Similar to a number of traditional tipper companies, the trucks on the Smiths [Bletchington] fleet are British-built, owned outright and are usually run for well over a decade.

But Paul Needle, transport manager, and Tun Norwich, workshop manager, are working on bringing down that replacement cycle in order to generate a used vehicle market for its well-maintained Oxfordshire-based 39-strong fleet.

"We keep vehicles a very long time, eight to 12 years," says Needle. "We are going to reduce that to eight years, but because of the current climate, we have cancelled orders this year.

"It is one of our challenges; we think we can demonstrate over the lifetime of the lorry, you are going to get a better return on your investment. We hire in owner-drivers when we have a lot of work on and they are keen to buy them," he says.

Norwich would like to see the service age reduced even further. "Ideally, I would like to do five years. With eight years," he says, "it's coming to the end of its life."

Keeping busy

Even though things are tough, a job at an airfield has all but one of the vehicles out of the yard. The one remaining is a Foden, a vehicle no longer available to the company as a new product. It's a brand. says Norwich, that has played a part throughout his 32 years with the company.

Already tangible signs of newcomers — DAF, MAN and Volvo — are supplanting the famous kite, but with its in-house maintenance, the arrival of electronically-based vehicles means the operator's workshop has to catch up.

Norwich is investing in a laptop for fault codes and training, and Foden service agent RP Cherry at Abingdon is on hand to help, but new trucks also bring new issues when it comes to understanding idiosyncrasies and specifications.

Long-term proof

Norwich says trucks need to be run over the long term, three to four years preferably, before you can really tell if they can cope with the job, and at Smiths [Bletchington] the jobs are split evenly between muckaway and aggregate.

"Foden has been second-to-none for our work application," he adds. "Keeping them for eight years shows they are capable."

But specifying now is much more difficult. Foden's rubber suspension, which he says has been bulletproof, is a classic example. However, he does like the MAN and sees it as a possibility for future eight-leggers at Smiths.

"You haven't got the AdBlue, which is an advantage. We use it on DAF and Volvo, and there is that expense, with all these new vehicles it'll be nice to see the figures over a 12-month period," he says.

"Hino, with a 'plastic cab' and basic specification but a good driveline, and Renault and Iveco, are all right without impressing," he adds. They have been trialled by the company.

While ordering new vehicles is one issue, reducing their life-cycle is another. •

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Locations: Oxfordshire

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