"The extra power means that there
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is much less gear changing" Kevin Greenway
• Haulage contractor John Butlin was set up in the Birmingham area way back in I903; for the past 19 years the company has resided in the Hay Mills area of the city. The current John Butlin runs a fleet which is almost all Volvo: the 29 rigids and seven artics include a solitary Scania.
"We bought our first F7 tractive unit back in 1982," says Butlin. "More recently we have enjoyed close involvement with Volvo on some of its promotional work, and last year we were offered an exdemonstrator FIA2 6x2 tractive unit, with a mid-lift pusher axle, at a preferential price. It gives us a payload of 23 tonnes on five axles at 38 tonnes with a curtain-sided trailer, or just over 25 tonnes with a flat trailer."
Driver Kevin Greertway reports: "The truck covers about 8o,000 miles a year and we run fully laden for about 5o% of the time. Fuel consumption works out at between 8.o-9.o mpg with a curtainsided trailer.
"The F12 380 was a big step up from the Flo 310 I had before," he adds. "The extra power' means that there is much less gear changing. It's only got an eight-speed box and it could do with a splitter on the top half of the box. The engine brake saves a lot of wear in the service brakes. The tyres on the pusher axle last about half the time of those on the front steer axle.
"The mounting that supports the air suspension boot cracked and we also had trouble with the suspension system charging fully," he says. "But that was early on and it was put right in the dealer's garage.
"The differential housing leaked oil and began to whine, but it just needed some adjustment. We also had a broken half shaft," says Greenway. "The cab doesn't have lot of storage so for a night out it's a matter of moving things around to get into the bunk. With the engine so high cross-cab access is not good either, but it's very comfortable to drive."
From an operational point of view Butlin is pleased that he stayed with the FLI2. For the time being he is expanding the fleet rather than replacing vehicles, but he keeps a weather eye on residuals. "Volvos have tended to be good value and reliable tucks," he says. "We decided to buy the Scania 94D 260 6x4 instead of an FM because of Volvo's long lead times. Now my drivers tell rue they like the Scania better." I