"The reason 1 have so many is because of their reliability."
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Mike Beer
Three years ago Mike Beer Transport, a family-owned concern which started in business in 1976 with a single truck, ordered the first 4x2 Daf XF to go on the road in the UK. Today the firm has more than 20 similar units out of a fleet of 50 trucks, operating on the Continent from Holland and in the UK from a base near Dover. Services now on offer include groupage consolidation, warehousing and national distribution, with full load and groupage to all EU countries.
When we talked to Beer last year at the final independent RHA TipCon exhibition at CMex Manchester, he told us he was about to flag out. Having established a second company in Holland he has reaped the benefits without any serious problems.
Beer also has a 45% share in Rouse & Beer, a body-building company he set up with Mark Rouse to enable him to get what he wanted for his own trailers. He operates bulk transport in the UK and palletised loads abroad and over here. One of the company's more unusual trailers is a refrigerated tipper used to transport animal foodstuffs.
"I also run Volvos and lvecos, but the reason I have so many Daf XFs is because of their good reliability. They maintain a reasonable residual, and Oaf's back-up is excellent," he reports.
"Our local dealer, Channel Commercials at Ashford, provides me with a contract maintenance package that extends from bumper to bumper, and the Daf breakdown service is second to none here and abroad," says Beer. "With the XF we went up in power from 400 on the earlier 95 models to 430hp, which we thought was right to give us optimum fuel consumption. The 380hp version was not available to us in the XF, but the whole-life cost is better with the 430 anyway.
"The dealer comes to us and does routine maintenance on site at the weekend," he adds. "No other dealer offered to do that for us. If any faults arise during the week we take the truck into its premises, where it operates a 24-hour-a-day service."
Maintenance is part of the package for the first two years. Beer feels it is quite expensive in the third year but feels it is worth paying the extra. However, he describes the price of some parts, such as the mirrors and the headlamps, as exorbitant, particularly as they are both fast-moving parts. But he has found the prices of many other components comparable with Volvo's.
"Originally we bought 4x2s for our bulk work, but now we are using 6x2s on tipper work in the UK and saving on the tax," he says. "We will also be ready for 44 tonnes if and when it comes in. We use wide single tyres on the front of the 4x2 units. Being a bit wider they give better tracking where the road surface is tramllned than the regular 295/80s, which we use as standard on the 6x2s. As far as running costs go, with the bigger tyres what we gain on price we lose on fuel."
With the vehicles working in and out of the UK, Beer likes them to carry big fuel tanks. The 6x2 FH Volvos have a light pusher axle with 17.5in wheels that allow them to carry 1,400 litres of fuel, and he is looking for the same setup on the Daf XF. At the moment he can get no more than 600 litres on the 6x2.
"All our bulkers are fitted with PT0s, and other standard equipment is sun visors and air conditioning," he adds. "The latter is particularly important as it helps keep the inside of the cab clean, especially when operating in dusty conditions. Apart from making life more tolerable for the driver, it helps us maintain the vehicle in top condition. This is important in ensuring we get the agreed residual value on renewal. Normally we have kept them for three years, but we are now looking to run them on for a fourth year as the reliability is that good."
The vehicles clock up 140,000km a year, mostly fully freighted. Clutches have been a problem. However, the worst example—a clutch which lasted just 75,000km—has to include an element of driver error, as the company has some that have covered 400,000km and are still running. Beer has also had some annoying electrical problems: the warning lamps can often indicate a problem with the ABS or ECAS when actually there Is no fault. He adds that the electric windows could
be better, but this is not a major criticism.
"On bulk work the 4x2s return 7.6mpg, while the 6x2 we have run with curtainsided trailers since January are giving us Bmpg—about the same as the Volvo FNs doing similar work," says Been "Over three years there is little to choose between them on overall costs.
"The Super Cab is nice and comfortable for the driven" he concludes. "It's got a deep, wide bunk, and provides the space he needs to live in. From an operator's point of view we could do with about 250kg more payload."