Volvo pips MAN to win Winfield order
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kevin.swallow@roadtransport.com WEST MIDLANDS plant haulier C Winield Plant Services has bought a Volvo FH13 460 Globetrotter following an in-house trial pitting it against an MAN TGX 440.
Transport manager Chris Nott says the trial, which saw both trucks operate a full working week for the company, covering the same mileage, inished with identical fuel consumption results – 6.75mpg – with AdBlue making Volvo more costly to run.
Nott adds that the Volvo was also more expensive, but required options on the MAN closed the price difference to £5,000. Volvo comes with two years repair and maintenance as standard, while repair and maintenance was an option for the MAN, and further upgrades in speciication on the MAN were also needed.
This included itting two 225amp batteries to replace the standard 175amp, a 150amp alternator to replace the standard 80amp, a beacon bar and an Anderson lead from the truck’s batteries to the trailer’s power pack.
In the end the company, which runs nine Volvo tractor units, 11 plant trailers and three 26-tonne rigids with beavertail bodies, went with Volvo. Nott says: “We have a strong relationship with Volvo and that swung it. C Winield has run a Volvo leet since the company started in 1989. Hartshorne, the Volvo dealer, is 15 minutes from the depot. The MAN dealer is slightly further away – 45 minutes in Telford.” However, Nott says he was impressed by the MAN, and it was also well liked by his drivers. “We have not ruled out the MAN in the future, it’s a superb motor,” he says.