Top trucking tips from Travis Perkins

The bulk of Travis Perkins’ (TP) fleet are dropsides/cranes (1,200 are fitted with lorry mounted cranes) or curtain sides. The

company runs HGVs for a minimum eight years and its customer delivery fleet travels 35,000km per year per vehicle.

“We have a preferred supplier for chassis, bodies and the various off-loading systems such as IR lorry mounted cranes, tail lifts and vehicle-mounted fork lifts,” said Graham Bellman, TP’s group transport manager.

“Our HGV chassis are DAF, lorry-mounted cranes are from Terex Atlas and our bodywork is supplied by MTE (Massey Truck Engineering). All our chassis will need some degree of customisation from crane fitment to warning systems such as roof-mounted beacons and reverse cameras.”

Fuel and carbon

Not surprisingly, fuel consumption and carbon emissions are key to the decision-making process. “We specify the highest level of Euro rating (Euro 5) to ensure the engines are the cleanest and most efficient available,” said Mr Bellman. “And for our branch delivery fleet we benchmark vehicles via trials before committing to a purchase. The Group also invests in aerodynamic aids for any curtain side body vehicles.

“The driver can greatly influence fuel consumption and the introduction of auto gearboxes and driver training programmes helps us achieve better fuel usage,” he continued.

The older vehicles in the fleet are fitted with Euro 3, a system that captures particulate emissions, which helps reduce CO2 output. And TP is already gearing up for 2012 when only Euro 4+ vehicles will be able to operate within the London Emission Zone.

Manoeuvrability is also crucial and systems such as “rear steer” for larger vehicles and a good tight turning circle for the 18-tonne fleet are needed to access some of the tighter sites to which TP delivers.

The best truck in the world still needs maintenance, of course, and TP uses more than 300 repairers, controlled by a maintenance management centre, as well as a mixture of main dealers and independent repairers, with vehicles repaired on a “pay as you go” basis. The vehicles’ performance is monitored by fleet audits carried out by the Fleet Transport Association, TP fleet managers and MOT pass data.

Service support

“The key thing for the TP Group is service support and back-up, not forgetting best price,” said Mr Bellman. “In today’s world there isn’t really a bad truck – you just need to make your decision based on the job you do, so you have to take into consideration payload, service support, residual value, driver acceptance and environmental compliance to find what’s right for you.

“I’d advise operators to check the following before purchasing any vehicle:

? basket of replacement parts and their prices – clutch, mirror, bumper, starter motor, etc;
? location of the nearest dealer;
? online items available such as PTO systems and roof beacons;
? suitability for mounting a crane – what chassis components may need to be removed and at what cost;
? online cab painting can save you time and money;
? look at residual values if buying, or shop around for a contract hire deal. Always look at the handbook conditions for any hire, contract or lease deal.