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PRIZE POSSESSION
Page 32
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We visit Terry Hull, winner of the Commercial Motor/Wilcox "Win a tipping trailer competition," to see how his prize is standing up to the rigours of life in rural Cambridgeshire.
• Adrian Williams took delivery of the trailer his driver Terry Hull won in Commercial Motor's competition in the heat of last June, a far cry from the cold scene which met us last month at his Cambridgeshire depot where ice had formed on puddles in the yard.
Terry Hull was busy hosing clean the trailer and gently shaking his head: "Whose idea was it to send one in white? I clean it every Sunday, but it still gets filthy".
Williams' yard is on Nene Park Industrial Estate, set against the pretty backdrop of Oundle village. He counts among his neighbours a boat fitter, a furniture warehouse and the Post Office.
Much of the estate is undeveloped. When Williams moved to the site two years ago it was £100,000 a hectare — now he claims it is 2600,000.
A former HGV fitter, Williams set up business in 1980, with one lorry and wife Sandra as partner. Now, trading as A R Williams, he has a mixed fleet of 10 vehicles, employs 10 drivers and gives work to two owner-operators.
Generally, he and Hull are pleased with the trailer, which the firm keeps for a year as their prize. It has been put to work, carrying the various bulk goods common in rural areas such as animal feedstuffs, grain and stone.
GENEROUS CAPACITY
The Wilcox tipping trailer is coupled to a Volvo FL10 tractive unit, refitted with Volvo hydraulics to accommodate the limetre box.
Hull admires the Rubery OwenRockwell air suspension and the generous capacity of 41.8m3 (55yd3). "It's a good size for the sort of jobs we do", says Hull. "And it's very strong, although a little on the heavy side. It's got the first triple-ram system I've seen on an artic,
and it is more stable than a front-end ram.
"We carry sugar-beet pulp which is prone to sticking, so you sometimes have to rock the trailer to unload, but it's stable enough to instil confidence. I've had tense moments with some of the others."
Although he cannot put a figure on it Williams says he has made a profit from using the trailer, primarily because there are no running costs. But he and Hull share the view that, with all the advertising on the side, "it's a bit loud".
"I get a constant barrage of questions", says Hull, "usually farmers asking how much we get paid for carrying all that advertising. One said. 'Who supplied the nuts and bolts?' — because that's the only thing it doesn't tell you".
Hull points to what he sees as minor design faults which hamper working with the trailer. The rope hooks, he says, are too high and, in his opinion, the position of the ladders are wrong. On the side, these should be set above the wheels to make it easier to climb up: instead, they are set on the tipping-end corners, and the rungs are smooth, giving no grip in the wet.
He puts this lack of attention to detail down to Wilcox being a "bit old fashioned", and draws a comparison with Don Bur which will customise the position of hooks and steps.
Williams will buy the trailer if the price is right and will respray it in his distinctive blue livery allowing Hull, who does all the maintenance as well, a respite from all that cleaning.
However, Williams is pessimistic about the state of the haulage business and catalogues a list of problems that are driving good hauliers out of business — rising interest rates, depressed haulage rates, escalating overheads and vehicle theft.
The last, he says, is endemic in Cambridgeshire with 20 lorries stolen recently within a 30km radius. Williams lost a Don Bur trailer and twin-steer ERF tri-axle unit in September, and claims such as these send insurance costs soaring.
LOCAL PATROLS
A meeting with police resulted in local patrols being stepped up, but Williams believes the thieves are organised to the extent of "stealing to order".
Despite these problems Williams and Hull will stick to road haulage. It's in the blood, both men say. Hull comes in seven days a week and Williams describes him as an enthusiast. "I'd come in Sundays too", Williams says, "but my wife won't let me".
Instead, he relaxes by flying light aircraft, and has just taken a helicopter lesson. But lorries are still his real passion: "There's a charisma about them", he says.
0 by Patric Cunnane.