When it came to investing in Euro-6 technology last year, Hewicks Haulage Ltd of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk turned to Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia and ordered a pair of FH-540 6×2 tractor units, with XL Globetrotter cabs and I-Shift automated transmissions.
Hewicks Haulage Director Carl Brinkley said: “The pricing on the Volvo tractor units was right and the dealership gave us a good trade-in price on another vehicle. Taking into account the driving environment and the fantastic all-round visibility found in the new FH, Volvo was a natural choice for us.”
Support is vital to Hewicks Haulage. “We were offered a 5-year Gold maintenance contract that massively lessened the risk,” he said. “Furthermore, the Volvo dealership in Bury St. Edmunds is the best dealership I’ve ever come across and I just know that if we need support it will be there! The people at the Bury dealership really are wonderful ambassadors for Volvo.”
Hewicks Haulage started back in 2000 with just two trucks supporting sister company, Cave Liquid Haulage. The latter trades in liquid products and Hewicks Haulage was established to handle the transportation elements.
The company grew steadily until 2013-2014 when Managing Director, Chris Hewick suddenly expanded the fleet by +30% with a £1.5 million investment. It was part of this investment that saw the two Euro-6 Volvo FH tractor units join what is now a 32-strong fleet, which also includes three Volvo FHs from 2010.
Carl said: “This was a big investment and we had to work hard to utilise the increased fleet size, but I would say the additional capacity is already being used.”
From an operations perspective Carl added: “A majority of the product we carry is charged at £ per tonne so truck reliability is crucial. I would say uptime is much more important to us than the ability to carry an extra kilo or two!”
The Volvo FH tractor units are dedicated to tanker work where they carry liquid animal feed all over the country. “I must say the drivers of the new Volvo FH trucks love them,” said Carl. “They tell me they are a big improvement on the previous generation FH and they are definitely happy that we have invested in them.”
The trucks are expected to cover 130-135,000 km per annum and fuel consumption is closely monitored. “We look at all our drivers’ fuel figures each week,” explained Carl. “The new Volvo FHs are achieving, on average, about 8 mpg at 44 tonnes.”
While Hewicks Haulage uses the Volvo dealer in Bury St Edmunds to monitor the trucks via Dynafleet. “Each Monday I am sent an e-mail containing an overview report,” said Carl. “This definitely helps us to operate and maintain our Volvo trucks more proactively.”
Having driven the new Volvo FH trucks himself, Carl concluded: “These new units are streets ahead of the old FH in terms of comfort, all-round visibility and driveability. I like them!”
