"Overall the Dafs have
Page 28
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
been very good" Ted Bolt
Parcelnet is a new company formed from the merger of mail-order giants Freemans and Grattan. Fleet engineer Ted Bolt oversees a fleet of some 550 vehicles, ranging from light vans to 28-tonne artics. The tractor fleet is a mixture of Ivecos and Dafs including 14 Daf 75CF5 inherited from the Grattan fleet.
"There was a time when we were content to run with 27ohp models, but when the 56mph speed limit was introduced it became impossible to maintain all of our schedules," he explains "We initially moved up to 3oohp and then onto 3205 simply to make it easier to maintain high average speeds. The majority of the fleet run at 25-27 tonnes. They're used for a mixture of night trunking arid daytime shunting, clocking up around 120,000 miles a year.
"We keep them for five years. History tells us that we can't continue to expect reliability as a matter of course for longer than that, and we just can't afford to run unreliable trucks. We don't service any vehicles ourselves—every one of then is on a manufacturer's pence-per-mile contract. Until 18 months ago we bought our trucks outright but have switched to contract hire as the best financial decision for the time being.
"The 75CFs average between ro and io.5mpg, some operating with standard 4oft, 8ft-high box trailers while others run with later 13.6m, toft-high trailers and some with Wilson double-deckers. Higher, longer trailers obviously take their toll but so does the route and traffic conditions.
"Overall, the Dafs have been very good but there have been a couple of problems. The supports for the factory-fitted roof air kits cracked on the 75CF3oo models. We would expect the engines to run right through the contract period but that was not the case with the 3oo. As they reached 35o,000 to 400,000 miles the valves were prone to come up through the cylinder head. It took two days to replace with a new head and four if the old heads were fitted with new valve inserts.
"The 320 is basically the same engine and still seems to be OK but it is only just reaching the critical age on the earliest models. I'm not too interested in the day-today maintenance problems as we have already paid for any replacements parts in the R&M contract—I only become concerned when downtime becomes a factor.
"We inherited Chatfield's as the local dealer in the early '90s and they look after us. Some drivers like the lveco; others prefer the Dal Where possible we try to accommodate their preference and the condition of the trucks benefits as a result. We used to do a mid-life repaint; the condition of the CF cab does not warrant it but we do still repaint the chassis."