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
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
RUNNERTHON
Page 50
Page 51
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• At last! After 15 weeks, five operators, five body changes and an unscheduled meeting with a filling station canopy, the Commercial Motor/Leyland Daf Runnerthon is taking a well-earned rest — but only a short one. The little 8.15 Roadrunner is still raring to go and before the end of the year it could have joined your fleet, free of charge for a year.
How do you get lucky? Readers of CM will have been closely following the progress of the Runnerthon as it earned money for the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital through our regular reports on the five operators who took part. By now you will hove a pretty good idea of the kind of work the 8.15 has been doing, and the ground it should hove covered, thanks to the clues in our reports. But just to remind you, here's what our Roadrunner has been up to during the post three months. The first operator to get to grips with the Runnerthon Roadrunner was East Ki!bridebased Wiseman Dairies (CM 8-14 June). The firm specified it with a Penman reefer body and used it for deliveries to shops and supermarkets in central Scotland. Judging by the comments from Robert Wiseman it was a brae wee truck. "It made us sit up and look at what's on offer from Leyland Daf when we didn't before. We're normally 90% Ford, but we got one or two nice reviews from drivers." Next to take a spin with the 7.5-tonner was Robert Dods-Brown of Cambridgeshire (CM 22-28 June). in place of the reefer was a Boolloy Seven 5 Liner curtainsider body — just right for the company's unusual mixture of flouting lubricants and trees and shrubs. Dods-Brown was keen to put the Roadrunner through its paces, and the 8.15's performance was typical. "Its pulling power and fuel economy were marvellous, It had four drivers and for the fortnight with us averaged 15.6mpg — that's cheap motoring.' DoddBrown s company covers most of the Home Counties and the South, mainly on contract work for customers, although his trucks frequently travel much farther afield. Participant number three (CM 13-19 July) was Worcestershire-based Turner Fain, who took delivery of the Roadrunner with a Brade-Leigh dropside body. In the words of Turner Fain's transport manager Trevor Warman: 'We didn't see much of the Roadrunner here at Droitwich, it was heavily involved servicing our London contracts ... we kept the Roadrunner very busy" delivering curtain walling, shopfronts and doors all aver the country. Warman's verdict on the 8.15? "All the drivers were pleased with it — we had ric complaints." Next the 8.15 spent a fortnight in the cour try down on the East Sussex farm of Vera Garnett (CM 27 July-2 August), complete wit a York dropsider and Lucas crane. Accordinc to Garnett the Roadrunner was economical, manoeuvrable and particularly flexible. Whe the 8.15 wasn't used for hauling scrap, it ker busy carrying bales of hay, sheep, fertiliser and the odd feed sack. Not content with put ting klicks on the clock for charity (for every kilometre covered Leyland Oaf has pledged 50p to the RMCH, with a minimum donation of £5,000), Garnett organised a raffle and raised an extra £25 for the children off her own bat.
She reckons the current Roadrunner mode is on improvement on the original. "It movec very well, the cab has plenty of space and it certainly a motor a lady con handle."
For its lost lap the 8.15 bounced.back to Besco Bodies for a box before joining Allpor Freight in London (CM 17-23 Aug). During i fortnight with AF the Roadrunner was used t deliver garments to the South coast and East Anglia, giving freight divisional manager Dave Worth a good opportunity to evaluate the little Roadrunner for a possible fleet purchase. "It's been driven by about six driv• ers and so far the feedback has been good ... we're looking to expand the fleet and we'll certainly consider the Roadrunner."
INNIIIIIIIIINIMAWOM"WaiNgINEW110■10■0
With a 21,000 forfeit for any mechanical breakdown hanging over the heads of all the Leyland Oaf team it was hardly surprising that the Roadrunner got particularly good attention from oil of the participating dealers. But for service above and beyond the call of duty honourable mention must be made of Peter Dench's Arlington North West London team who, after a slight altercation between the 8.15 and a petrol station canopy, sped up to Besco at Northampton with Allport's traffic manager Alan Fox, brought a replacement body bock with them and fitted it to the 8.15 within 24 hours, getting Allport back on the road raising money for the RMCH. So now we're in the home straight and it's competition time. For the reader who can guess exactly how many kilometres the Runnerthon Roadrunner covered while working with the five operators, CM and Leyland Daf will offer the Runnerthon 8.15, complete with a Besco box body, to use free for a whole year. What's more, Leyland Daf will also chip in with the cost of insuring the truck while in the winner's fleet — all you hove to do is put in the diesel, get some freight in it and hit the streets, so get those calculators out, fill out the coupon, complete with the tie-breaker, and cross those fingers ... but be sure to read the rules carefully. The operator who correctly guesses how far the Roadrunner ran during our Runnerthon (to the nearest 50 kilometres) will be presented with the prize on 27 October at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, when Leyland Daf will also hand over the final cheque to the hospital.