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"The Megaspace cab makes it one of the
Page 32
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best looking trucks..." Paul Bailey
Bailey Brothers are potato merchants and prepackers. The firm was established at Bloxwich in the West Midlands in 1933. The founder's grandson, Paul Bailey, now runs the company with his brother Richard and father Bill from the site it moved to 40 years ago.
They have a mixed fleet of seven trucks including four tractors running at 40 tonnes, making regular collections of seed potatoes from Scotland and delivering spuds to customers all over Britain. They haul a mixture of potato bulker semis made by J Charlton of Thirsk, and Boalloy Tautliner triaxle curtainsiders.
"We have two Scanias, a Daf 95XF 480 and, since last September, a MercedesBenz 1848," says Paul Bailey. "We always buy at the top of the range—it makes them easier to sell and they retain the best residual values. Our drivers can be away for a week at a time so they need comfort and space. Before we decided what to buy we had Volvo, MAN, Scania and Renault as well as Mercedes-Benz models on demonstration.
"Except for Scania they were all in the same ballpark on price but we liked the package that Mercedes-Benz put forward. For £54,000 it included three years' war
ranty cover and we paid extra for the threeyear R&M contract. We knew the Actros had problems with its advanced electronics in the early days so we were concerned about the reliability.
"Before we committed ourselves we rang round local operators who were running them and got positive feedback from almost all of them—we were assured that after five years of production any major faults had been resolved.
"The Megaspace cab makes it one of the best looking trucks. Ours was the first in the UK to be fitted with a fully equipped kitchen: instead of the top bunk the cab's rear cupboard units house a microwave oven, filter coffee machine and a 25-litre fridge as well as the TV and video recorder.
"We run fully laden for most of the time and cover too,000km a year, so the engine is not fully run in yet. We are pleased with our Daf XF48o, which returns between 9.0 and 9.mpg overall—the Actros 1848 is doing as well, if not a bit better.
"It's specified with M-B's fully automatic Telligent gearbox. For the first week we wondered what we had got ourselves into.., reversing was a particular problem; the accelerator pedal gave all or nothing. Then we found that lifting the cruise control lever allowed us to creep back inch by inch.
"The driver tells us that the seat is the most comfortable he has ever sat in. The brakes are well balanced and perform just brilliantly48ohp is really more than we need for 40 tonnes but it doesn't strain to do the work and that makes it easier for the driver. The torque is very good. The Actros picks up faster then the Daf XF and it holds onto the revs better under load.
"With the flat floor the cab is high but there are four steps so it's easy to climb in. Inside is not gimmicky. It has a simple dash. The lockers above the front screen have a good depth to them but storage space is not quite as good as the Daf; the outside lockers are just a bit too small. The bunk is too firm for our driver— he's put a softer mattress on top.
"Gerard Mann Commercials is our local dealer. Because we also run an ri-tonne and a 7.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz we knew what to expect in the way of backup: it's good. Against Scania prices replacement parts are ridiculously cheap. The electrics don't hold any fears for me and we expect to run it for about six years.
"The only fault I can find at the moment is the front under-valance. It doesn't sweep back under like the Scania so there's not always quite enough ground clearance