"Ifs the lightest 715-tonner chassis on the market"
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Oakley Fuels only recently added a Mitsubishi Canter 75 to Its 15-vehicle fleet made up of Volvos, Scanias and Leyland Oafs, but we thought it worth including because of the unusual application.
"This is the first time we have had a 15-tonner in the fleet, but it meets a serious need in our operation, supplying heating fuel to domestic customers Not everyone wads a 38-tonner pulling up outside their house or on their driveway," says Oakley's managing director Allen Newman.
"Our business is concentrated mainly within a 10mile radius of Tefford, and domestic customers will now be able to ask for their delivery to be made by this smaller truck. It also makes sense to use it to deliver small consignments of gas oil to outlying farms. It will be cheaper than sending a larger tanker "The truck has worked every day since we put it on the road. We expect the Canter to cover about 50,000km a year, and we intend to keep it for 10 years.
"We picked the Mitsubishi because it's the lightest 7.5-tamer chassis on the market We carry 5,000 litres of heating oil in two compartments, and the average domestic delivery is about 1,000 litres. Road Tankers Northern of Sheffield supplied and fitted the tank. We believe it's the first time a vehicle of this size has been fitted with an aluminium tank.
"The tanker is equipped with an Aimee meter hose reels and a discharge pump driven by an electric PTO. When fully laden it comes in at just under its maximum weight," he adds.
He continues: "Fuel consumption is better than we expected. We are getting 22.0mpg overall. The driver likes it. He says the engine is quite terquey and it pulls well.
"We have heard that other operators have had trouble with the brakes, but we have not experienced anything of that nature ourselves. The vacuum system works fine. It's early days yet, but we haven't had any problems at all. Our impressions so far are excelled."