- 20 DAFs join national logistics fleet: mix of CF urban tractors, 18- and 26-tonne rigids
- Strong business growth drives 30%+ fleet additions and replacements
- Independent operator trials inform purchasing decision in DAF Trucks’ favour
- New running patterns spark change to R&M scheduling
Influential logistics firm, Rhys Davies Logistics (RDL), has opted for a DAF CF truck fleet following extensive trials across a number of marques. With a growth in palletised and urban distribution, the operator has taken a mix of DAF CF 460 FT 4×2 tractors, CF 330 FAN six-wheel 26-tonne rigids and CF 220 FA 18-tonners.
Explaining the choice, Fleet Operations Manager, Andy Williams, said, “We operate out of nine bases across the UK these days, and have a fast-growing volume of work that takes us into congested urban areas. This has already driven us to take on a dozen urban trailers to ease the drivers’ job,” he said, “but our existing 6×2 tractors were still causing more problems than we wanted. We had plenty of work for those elsewhere, so opted to trial urban tractors from a range of manufacturers. We ran them out of our Haydock and Whitburn (Scotland) bases, operating ‘round the clock on like-for-like work. It was what I’d describe as ‘real Rhys Davies work in real time’,” said Williams, “so it was an authentic test of what we might expect in operations.”
The operator looked at fuel, driver behaviour and vehicle performance across each of the trial trucks, using telematics to deliver detailed, comparable reports on all vehicles throughout the trials. “We picked what we thought were the best trucks available to us for this sort of work,” recalls Williams, “and the DAF proved to be the best of the best. No question.”
All the tractors are fitted with DAF Space Cabs, which Williams describes as being, “a really good place for our drivers to work and function. They offer great visibility and, with the right power unit under them, they allow our drivers to concentrate on driving safely and economically.”
Mark Richmond, Managing Director of the firm, added, “The business has been growing consistently over recent years, and our palletised curtain-side operations have been squarely behind our move to this urban fleet – a growth of some 30% in the fleet currently working on such contracts. The rigids,” he said, “are all part of the same development programme and feature trial box-body doors at each end and rear-steer axles to aid manoeuvrability in the tight urban environments where we now operate. With our nine nationwide branches, we are able to operate an independent pallet network service with a focus on specialism as our customers require.” He added “This has been finding great favour among people with demands for quality and reliability in their logistics.”
The new tractors will be double-shifted, carrying out normal distribution operations by day, and then running as trunkers between RDL depots at night. This has brought about a change to the normal seven-year R&M packages the operator has taken in the past. Andy Williams explains, “With the opportunity to run these tractors on day/night operations, we reckon we will be covering about 180,000kms a year. Whereas in the past we’d have run up to seven years on day-only work, with corresponding R&M, we are taking the DAFs on five-year packages, with a view to selling them on at the end of that period.”
The company has traditionally bought and re-sold all its trucks and vans, and in this instance, funding from PACCAR Financial has been used for the new fleet.
