Road Tests: Volvo FH12-460

Gary Bennett drives a Mercedes-Benz Actros 2543 for Alan Munro out of Skelmersdale. “Oh, no clutch,” he notes as he settles in behind the steering wheel. “The gearlever moves with the seat and folds down, so it’s clear if you want to move across the cab. In automatic gear, changes come a bit earlier than I perhaps wanted, but it was wonderfully smooth. It feels less rushed and less stressful. My left leg could become quite puny if I drove like this for too long. “Using Eco-Roll feels like freewheeling, which doesn’t use a spot of fuel. With this level of power, it just doesn’t feel anything like 44 tonnes.” Paul Sherman hails from Wigan and drives a 4 Series Scania 6x2 380 44-tonner for RWS Transport. “You can’t have too many lockers if you want to keep the cab clear,” he says, looking at those above the top bunk. “It’s like driving a computer. I struggle with the Scania at 44 tonnes, but you can hardly tell this has got anything on the back; the gearchange is so smooth. It’s a different way of driving – this gearbox is the way to go.” We found Peter Brooks sitting in an older FH460 that he drives for JME Transport out of Manchester. “You can’t fault the way it pulls away. It handles 44 tonnes well. The more weight you put on a 460, the better it works – hard work makes the turbo hotter and run more efficiently. There are no real blind spots on the FH. Disc brakes are spongier than my drums, but the power steering is more precise. Reversing onto a bank can be a problem with some automatics, but this just inches back as slowly as you like.”