"We intend to keep the 65s for
Page 34
Page 35
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
at least six years" David Brooks
Dean's Farm Eggs, established near Aylesbury in the 19305, has grown into one of the top three egg collection and delivery operations in the UK. Transport engineer David Brooks has been with the company 22 years and looks after 58 trucks. "They are mostly Leyland Dafs." he told us, "but we do have three Mercedes-Benz, one Volvo and an ERE.
"We used to buy Ford but we didn't get on with the Cargo. We bought Leylands in the '8os and have never looked back. As well as a mixture of artics we operate 26 and 23-tonners. All 26 65.2105 are at 17 tonnes and we have two 65.24os at 23 tonnes with lift axles. Eggs are surprisingly heavy, so we run at about maximum weight most of the time.
Payload
"Fitted with an insulated box body and tail-lift, the 65 suits our operation. We get about a 9.0 tonne payload and will probably take advantage of the extra tonne at 18 tonnes, depending on how much it costs in the Budget. We will definitely go to 40 tonnes with the artics,
"We intend to keep the 65s for at least six years. They don't all do the same mileage but all seem to suffer the same faults with age. The bodies will be refurbished so that they last out the lives of two chassis but we will replace the tail-lifts.
"Our oldest 65 Series is not six years old until next March; so we haven't sold any yet. We tend to sell to used truck dealers or other users—we are in a stronger bargaining position if we don't trade them in against new models. We ordered five more 65.2105 just a few weeks ago.
"We have a good relationship with Leyland Daf s regional engineer. I like to think we are pretty sensible about component life and can usually come to an agreement if we get a premature failure. Overall we are satisfied with the service and response. Dealers at Oxford and Luton will deliver parts twice a day and DafAid works very well if a vehicle is in trouble on the road. The absence of parts books can make the identification of some components difficult, but our dealers will fax a copy of the relevant microfiche to us so there is no mistake.
We do all our own servicing and City First at Slough looks after our tyres. Brake life varies according to the type of operation but we are looking at 200,000lcm-plus for a set of linings. The only trouble we had with an engine was when a fan belt came off and that was a chance in a million. We have looked at long-life oils but we don't have a problem dropping the dirty oil at the recommended drain period. A lot of our trucks work into London but the clutches are no
problem, they last around 3oo,000km. It's the silly things that go wrong like the propshaft centre bearings. They usually fail just out of warranty. Tyre wear is variable and we do scrub off tread and suffer sidewall damage in town. In the past we have always used Michelins but are looking at Bridgestone, which we think are lasting longer. We fit recaps on the drive axle even on new vehicles.
"Odd items such as heater motors, washer bottles and flexible brake hoses seem quite expensive.
Friendly image
"On average we return tz.ompg which, with a fridge motor, we think is fair. The trucks create a friendly image, they don't appear aggressive to the man in the street and they look good in our colours. Any accident damage usually occurs below the main cab structure. We keep a stock of the plastic bits such as bumpers, under valance and wheelarches to get them back on the road quickly.
"Generally our drivers like the 65 but do complain about how quickly the mirrors and side windows get dirty. They are easy to work on and because the cabs still look good, we may decide to keep them a little longer than six years," Brooks sums up.