"We plan to turn the whole fleet over to Scania"
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Peter Hopkins
Robert Hopkins of West Bromwich specialises in environmental services and drum reclamation. Peter Hopkins runs a 7.5-tonner. two 17-tonners and three top-weight 6x2 tractors in an ownaccount operation. Until about a year ago a single Leyland Daf 17-tonner was the only truck in the fleet that didn't carry the three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz.
"The Mercs were giving us some problems and I was becoming dissatisfied with the service I was getting from the local dealer," he says. "Confidence took a blow, bringing everything to a head, after one of the trucks came back from a service with the radiator and hoses loose. I looked around at Volvo and Leyland Oaf for an alternative and might have settled for a CF380 if they could have we decided to try out a 4-Series Scania 360 6x2 unit on a two-year lease. That vehicle covered over 100,000km in the first year and apart from having a single injector replaced it hasn't missed a beat. "On the strength of that, last October I took on an R-cabbed 420 6x2 with the latest 12-litre engine over three years." Hopkins reports. "We use it to pull a tank and other times it's hitched to a 13.6m trailer which can take 138 drums. It's a bit quicker than the 360, mainly because it can hold 56mph up and down hill over the motorways. It helps in meeting customer deadlines. The extra torque helps pull away from rest, overcoming that bit of surge you get from a nearly full tank trailer.
We run fully laden for about 70% of the time and we are getting about 10.0mpg, which is considerably better than the 8.0mpg we were getting from the M-B 2544," he adds. ''The 380 is generally used for slightly lighter work but fuel consumption of between 9-10mpg is good too. Initially a couple of bits of trim in the cab came loose but that was fixed at the first service. There are occasions where the driver needs to be accompanied and then the double bunk cab comes into its own if they have to stay away overnight, It has plenty of room for two people.
"I am not altogether happy with the colour but that was my choice," Hopkins admits. "It's a bit lighter than the Oxford blue we normally specify. It's not a cheap truck but the lease agreement covers everything except tyres so I have known costs. The local dealer is just a mile down the road and he is there to give backup 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The two other things we want are reliability and a truck that gives my company a good image. The 4-Series 420 gives us both so we plan to turn the whole fleet over to Scania."