THE FLEET
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
In its 61 years W Rolls has run just about every type of British truck, from Atkinson eight-wheelers with 150 Gardner engines at 24-tonne GVW to Guy Big Js. The company has run trucks built by AEC, Bedford, Commer, Dodge, ERF and Foden. The most popular appears to be Leyland with several types being on the fleet at one time or another including a Comet, a Mastiff with Perkins V8 engine, and a Bison with the TL11 engine. When Bartlett took over the business in 1994 he inherited three Leyland Constructors that were already more
than eight years old, and a Volvo FL10.
He eventually replaced the Leylands with Volvo FL7s and has tried Dafs and Scanias before eventually settling on Renault with the Premium Lander. The fleet now includes six eight-wheelers, with four supplied from Renault. One key
reason was the 5,650mm wheelbase for the eight-wheeler so it could fit on a 7m-long, 2.1m-high body to carry the maximum amount of volume for woodchip loads.
Renault has slimmed its model range in the lead up to Euro-6, so Bartlett bought a Volvo FM eight-wheeler, which was shown at Tip-Ex 2013 on the Aliweld stand. He uses the Ryton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne bodybuilder for all his trucks. "We've been using Aliweld since 2007, we bought a second lorry with one of their bodies on it, that was four years old and it hadn't had any repairs.
"We ran it for another four years and never put a blowtorch on it. It was light, about 300kg lighter than anyone else, and they really put themselves out if you need a body straightaway. They will work nights and weekends to finish it, so we have been with them ever since," he says. He has recommended the bodybuilder to other rigid bulk hauliers. The company maintains its own vehicles, which are on four-weekly inspections because they are tippers. "Our OCRS score is on the green," he says. "The trucks used to
get a hard life but we don't get so many problems with the springs since we do less quarry work."
For parts or warranty work, or to plug into the diagnostics, he takes trucks to Renault Trucks repairer AE George & Sons in nearby Bruton. Another Renault six-wheeler is due to arrive in October and for Bartlett it's likely to be the last new truck for a while.
"We won't be buying any Euro-6 trucks for a while," he says, although he's been in the game long enough to realise the new technology will probably be all right. "No one builds a bad truck anymore but you never know; let them flow, see how they go," he adds.