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In the car market, there are a handful of switched-on
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dealers and. no doubt, quite a few opportunisitc wheeler-dealers peddling nearly new stock. The benefits are clear. Buyers get an almost mint product minus the gratuitous depreciation from driving it out of the showroom. It also has at least 12 months' warranty and relatively low mileage, and should still be a looker.
In the used truck market, Dawson Rentals is starting to refresh its stock at 24 months, creating a nearly new market for the trade.
Its price against new varies according to demand: warranty could well be up, mileage won't be an issue and, barring a new product launch, the vehicle should retain its looks.
Manufacturers traditionally rely on threeyear deals that can be extended up towards five. They even bring the vehicles in and rent or lease them back out again before sticking a price tag on the window. A manufacturer-owned truck could be four years old before it is dropped on to the open market.
So could a 12to 24-month-old truck market take off? Large rental companies and logistic players have strong buying power. They could easily turn around a relatively cheaply bought 12-month-old truck from a massvehicle deal, sell it as an individual product and get the going rate.
It's even feasible that they could run and then sell a truck with just 10% depreciation over a year. rather than lose up to 30% over two.
Normally, stock barely out of the traps means repossession, which is the case here. If a third party provided the finance, it will usually have an outlet, such as the Alliance & Leicester used truck site at Trafford Park. If the finance house doesn't have a facility like this, dealers and auctions will vie for vendor status.
Stock financed through the financial division of the manufacturer, as is the case with Volvo Truck & Bus, is remarketed through the used retail division.
Volvo Truck & Bus also remarkets its demonstration fleet, which can be anything from six to 18 months old, plus customers buying new products don't always stick to the three-year deals, preferring some degree of flexibility — monthly payments permitting, of course.
So where does that leave us with PNO7 Gil? Registered last June, it has the Euro-4 D13A 473hp driveline with SCR, 1-Shift 12-speed transmission, 12 months' repair and maintenance remaining on its contract and 12 months' driveline assurance.
A healthy 2,400Nm of torque is on tap. and it pulls 44 tonnes with ease. Add the tallest XL Globetrotter cab, with the mid-range Prestige trim, and you've got a pretty tidy combination.
The cab is decked out with an array of extras: Kelsa Roof, Euro and Low spot lamps. binged catwalk, fuel and air tank covers. Waeco roof-mounted climate control unit, Tosumi 19-inch DVIYIV, and stainless steel hub covers, nut rings and nut covers.
Volvo jazzed up this truck for the CV Show and Truckfest at Peterborough. Its £72,000 price tag reflects its level of desirability. It's not even listed on the CAP Red Book database yet, so you'll have to take the price at face value.
On the road
It is difficult to judge life with an automated transmission with just two pedals without comparing it to life with manual gearboxes and three pedals.
When the industry regularly produced manual, threepedal trucks, it gave drivers — although they didn't realise it at the time — the ultimate sense of control and driveability.
As well as handling speed, they also controlled gear selection. Changing up and down the box without hampering momentum or driving revs through the top of the dial when slowing down showed understanding and knowledge of the trucks operational requirements.
As a result, this delivered good fuel economy and, usually, prolonged the life of components such as the clutch.
But a lack of understanding and knowledge, such as driving up towards 1,800-2,0001pm and beyond, produced horrible results and caused a great deal of distress and hand wringing for transport managers. As fuel economy grew more important, the drivers — or variables, as they became known in the fleet sector — came under ever-closer scrutiny. While logistic businesses Alarm Option introduced driver training to help reduce running costs, the Central locking • truck manufacturers have since levelled the playing field at Deadlocking a stroke with automated transmissions, Secure bonnet X In the time it has taken for two-pedal trucks to take 7.92mpg 135.7lit/100kml Locking fuel cap over, their residual values have surpassed those of their manual, three-pedal equivalents. So when trucks to the rule.
An auto box also frees you up to put all your concentration into avoiding suicidal bikers and lunatic reps, among others. With just a year under its belt, this truck has barely broken sweat. We had to lower the electric windows to know it was A-roads. 54.2 km/h working at all.
Handling and ride are meticulous, but the Hill performance: (minutesisecondsi The link-up between the I-Shift and D13A is rather than lug down.
Acting as its eyes, you can use manual override to get around that, After some premature changes on hill climbs, we felt obliged to lift a finger and knock it into manual. The Volvo Engine Brake (VEB) is well worth its place on the truck. On descents, it stops you gaining too much momentum and enables the gearbox to find the right area for delivering revs.
Happily, there is sufficient scope to gain enough revs before you are encouraged to intervene and apply the brake.
This is the only time you'll hear the engine sound as though it's working.
Productivity IL speaks volumes for 44 tonnes to travel around the tough used truck test route and come within a whisper of breaking the 8.0mpg barrier.
With an average speed of 61.8km/h, fuel consumption of 7.92mpg and AdBlue use of 4.5%, any operator would be pleased with the truck's ormance. The total cost per 100km works at £39.96, of which £39.27 is diesel and 69p is AdBlue.
The majority of the Volvo's good work was done on the A-road, and it was pleasing to see 473hp not eat up the fuel. Clearly. 480hp is the new 400hp as a benchmark at 44 tonnes between the trucks that have 'power' and those that don't. Its speed through here, a modest 54.2km/h, represents the difficulties of keeping to the national speed limit as well as taking on the hills in a pretty diverse area — flat through the West Midlands, undulating in Mid Wales, and rolling motorway terrain back to Hinckley.
On the motorway, 9.28mpg is the sort of figure we would want, coupled with decent momentum — an impressive 83km/h. Were this a weight-sensitive operation, the 9,090kg kerb weight might cause a few headaches. The 970-litre diesel tank, filled to the brim, accounts for 815kg, lifting it into the uncompetitive area.
An overall net payload of 27,909kg, taking into account the 7.0-tonne CM test trailer, suggests that the operator of this vehicle would be carrying loads that either cube or pallet out before coming up against the weight restrictions.
Cab comfort If there is an issue with Volvo and its FH Globetrotter cab, it's that storage takes precedence over personal living space. Drivers are lone figures who, after a long day's driving/waiting/eating/sleeping, want nothing more than to spend time on their own in the cab when they're parked up.
It's an issue we have discussed at length, and it boils down to what you as an individual want — storage or space.
If your answer is storage, you'll be impressed because the PH Globetrotter offers a cubbyhole for just about everything. Lockers front and back limit head space above the seats and space above the top bunk.
There is a pull-out drawer under the bunk, and decent nooks and crannies around the dash. No place for a water bottle though, and, very similar to Scania's Topline, we feel that there is still room for improvement — if you'll pardon the pun.
Dropping the storage volume or reducing the size of the front lockers would help resolve the storage/space conflict.
The Globetrotter's 2.1m standing room, although a little bit tight for any heavy metal fans out there wanting to pull off some excessive head movements, outguns the a number of its rivals — so Volvo shouldn't be feeling too downcast.
This truck's overall condition, though, is immaculate, and its extras make it a shining example of a flagship motor. The driver's seat is comfortable and flexible, so it should suit almost any physique. Plus it is blemish-free — but lacks an armrest.
The optional flatscreen 19-inch DVD/TV is mounted to the wall behind the passenger's seat — proof that extras can be successfully installed into trucks without taking up a great deal of room.
Prestige is the cab option fitted here, and it has aged well. The material colouring, which is not too light but not so dark that it drowns out external brightness, is well appointed. •