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OPERATOR FEEDBACK Foreman-mechanic Paul Layzell Based just outside Chelmsford, Kings
Page 48
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Transport operates more than 40 trucks ranging from fourwheeled rigids to artics,distributing bulk sand. ballast and asphalt. Mick King started in business 30 years ago with one truck and until a few years ago the company claimed to have the largest Mercedes-Benz tipper fleet in the country. Now it operates a mixture of Dafs.MANs. Mercedes-Benzes and Scanias.
Mercs are behind the times "We weigh up the cost. payload and fuel consumption before deciding what to buy next." foreman-mechanic Paul Layzell told us. "The Mercs are about 10 years behind the times today —they're strong and tough but just too heavy We mainly operate eight-wheelers and artics,but as far as six-wheelers are concerned we think that the MAN is the right truck for us: it's one of the lightest around.
"We've got four.Two are 6x2s flats with tag wdes.they operate almost exclusively on-road delivering bagged materials to the bulk merchants.'The others are 6x4s used on bulk tipping work.We took the first one three years agaThe price for the package, which included a service contract for the first two years. was competitive at the time.We take them in-house after that for a further three years before they come up for renewal.
"Tipper work is tough but the 6x4s have more standing time than the 6x2s, which cover about 80,000 miles a year. We get some ret urn loads for the bulkers, which means that they run laden for more than 50% of the time.
"When the five years are up we return them to the lease company.They're very particular about the truck's general condition and pick up on quite minor items like missing blanking switches. A couple of items which can be quite expensive to put right are cigarette burns on the driver's seat, and tyre tread depths—they want a full 7mm on all of the tyres.
"These MANs have not advanced down the electronic road as far as some other trucks and we are still able to service them without specialist equipment. MAN's backup is not bad. Stoneway of Colchester look after our initial servicing. We book the trucks in overnight or at the weekend: they give the driver a van to get home and back. Parts availability is good so we get very little unscheduled downtime.
"The 6x4s are good on site work.They have good traction for when the going gets a bit sticky. With 280hp they have a lot of pulling power and torque comes in low down the rev range. Nine gears are more than adequate for the job.We have steel suspension on the rear and it's never given us anytrouble.The ground clearance below the axle is OK and all of the pipes and actuators are located out of the way.
Smaller cab's basic -We use both cabs. The bigger one is used on distribution while the drivers say that the smaller one,with two-point suspension,is a bit basi It has a suspension seat but it doesn't have the best driving position. It's not the most comfortable truck to drive but we haven't had any complaints about backache. One c the drivers' biggest complaints is the powerfi engine fan; in dry weather it really stirs up the dust from the ground.
"Mechanically the trucks have been reliable but there are one or two items that are source of irritation.The corner deflectors ar held on by one bolt and a bit of Velcro. When they inevitably work loose they flap in t: wind and break of Working around stones we have a lot of headlight and screen replacements.
"In our opinion bonded screens would be a retrograd step for tipper operation.
-The bonding takes a long time to cure, which only keeps the truck off the road fc longer. We replace vehicles on a continuot basis and expect MAN to feature in our plans for the future."