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f you want confirmation of Hino's ;uccess in Britain, look no further han Sweeting of Leeds. In just two
Page 44
Page 45
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fears, as Robb Sweeting tells Kevin ;wallow, its muckaway fleet has
witched almost entirely to Hino.
qimong a collection of buildings, sheds and stables on a windswept hill next to the M62 in the middle ofJanuary, the ies of three Alsatians alert Robb Sweeting ght) that something has arrived in his yard. Manoeuvring past the guard dogs is not a no as might be expected but a Foden.The ick was recently bought from a tipper ,eration near Nuneaton with 15 million km the clock and it is still running smoothly. /eeting picked it up personally. travelling re by train and taxi —the seller was amazed he hadn't brought a low-loader to ferry it back to Yorkshire.
Despite standing for six months it started first time. On his return he replaced the tyres, put it through an MoT and did a load in it. It now has a driver and is very much part of the fleet — but where it once would have been in the majority, the Foden is now the odd one out.
Today Sweeting of Leeds is an eight-strong fleet with seven Hino trucks aged two years or less. "We run them with warranty and sell them," Sweeting says, and it's with good reason."Wh en we bought the first two, one cost £61,700, on 06-plates. Richard Crump from Pelican Engineering [see panel] took us to Ireland and! asked him what they would be worth in two years' time. He said he would give us f50,000 each," he says.
True to his word, Crump bought the twoyear-old Hino 7(X)-series trucks at the quoted price. Sweeting continues to replace his fleet with Hino and the difference has been felt in repair work. payload and fuel economy.
Wrong move
He says a gearbox with broken synchromesh cogs and a damaged clutch, fixed under warranty as it resulted from a flywheel fault, are the only things that have gone wrong. "With the Fodens it was silly things such as electrical problems and ABS warning lights. With f lino you don't get anything."
The outgoing Fodens weighed in at 13.4 tonnes, whereas the Hinos are a full tonne lighter with the manufacturer's chosen Thompson body on the back.
Like every traditional tipper operation Sweeting has found ways of reducing his costs. Now he buys in the Hino chassis through Pelican Engineering and sends it toTownend Bodies to get titled, and has found somewhere to do his brake linings for less than half the price that Hino charges. Every little helps,he says, as conversation turns to fuel.
With work confirmed never more than a week ahead, fuel bunkering can be a huge commitment if things dry up."1 wince when I see the [fuel] truck come in the yard with a week's worth of diesel," he says,"but the work keeps coming in.The Hinos have been very good on fuel, better than the Fodens."
While singing Hino's praises Sweeting remains open-minded about other manufacturers. An 8x4 Mercedes-Benz Axor is in on demonstration and he rates it—hut the price tag, over £.10,000 more than the Hino, puts him off. •