Driver reaction to the three Daf XF95 tractors put into service 18 months ago by Yorkshire haulier Ken Mallinson & Sons was sufficiently positive for eleven more tall-cabbed Dafs to be ordered. Three of the latest 6x2 Euro 5 compliant XF105 vehicles are already on the road.
The remaining 44-tonners are due for delivery later this year when, says director Steve Mallinson, they should qualify for reduced pollution certificates and the accompanying VED rebate. By the early part of 2008, the
number of Dafs in the 40-vehicle fleet will have risen to 23.
Like the earlier batch of Dafs, the newcomers were ordered with ZF AS-tronic automated mechanical transmissions (AMTs). They have been run in parallel with four Volvo FH12s with the rival I-shift system. Mallinson says that, from a driver's perspective, there has not been a lot to choose between the two AMT systems, though the ZF has proved some-what more controllable when reversing to couple a trailer.
Fuel economy comparisons between the two-pedal Dafs and Volvos, and some older semi-automatic Mercedes in the fleet become difficult, explains Mallinson, because actual gross operating weights fluctuate so widely.
Two of the company's biggest contracts involve contrasting loads: concrete lintels, often taking rigs right up to their maximum plated weights and plastic pipes totalling barely 4 tonnes for a full load. A further ten Lawrence David curtain-sided trailers are being added to the ten already
in service with Mallinson. All have Moffett Mounty demountable fork-lifts. Six new Montracon flat-beds are also on order.
Recent floods in the Yorkshire area have disrupted operations at Mallinson's newly completed £450,000 workshop in Huddersfield, where the site facilities are VOSA approved for carrying out annual tests. Steve Mallinson adds however that the requirement for VOSA personnel to be in attendance for heavy vehicle testing remains a procedural hindrance.
Reed Business Information Limited.©2008
