South Northamptonshire Council has taken delivery of the UK's first Euro 4 Scania Low-Entry R-Series, a 6x2 refuse truck with rear-steer and a Heil body. The council's head of property and direct services Alex Lohman explains to MT that he wasn't nervous about being the first UK operator to purchase one, having had only good experiences from another eight older low-entry Scanias.
"They tend to cost more than other low-entry trucks" explains Lohan, "but there are plenty of operational
benefits to running Scanias over other makes." Like the others, the new truck is on a seven-year contract hire deal from Northampton-based Specialist Fleet Services. It comes with specified air suspension, which Lohan believes not only improves driver comfort, but will result in less wear and tear.
While he is glad that the Euro 4 newcomer has an EGR engine, so does not require AdBlue, he says this didn't actually influence the purchasing decision. "Not using AdBlue is a bonus," he says, "but I buy Scanias for their reliability." South Northamptonshire Council also runs a fleet of kerbside recycling trucks. Lohman says these don't have as hard a life as the refuse trucks, so he opts for 4x2 Dennis Eagle Elites instead.
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