Mounted on a Scania XT 6x2 rear steer chassis, the new truck operates either as a 26-tonne solo unit or as a 44-tonne drawbar with a custom-built tri-axle trailer. Working out of JG Pears’ depot in Bradford, this skiploader will work around the clock covering over 100,000km per year over a minimum 10 years of working life.
“Performance, productivity and safety are the key yardsticks for every vehicle in our 60 - plus fleet” says Andrew Bostock, JG Pears’ group logistics director. “We chose this skiploader unit - our first from Harsh - not just for its practical design and robust construction but also for its fully-integrated skip locking system that offers a significant bonus in operating safety. So too the unit’s rechargeable remote control that allows easy viewing of the complete loading / unloading cycle from anywhere around the vehicle.”
The new skiploader is destined for some serious work with the expectation that it will cover some 200,000kms plus on longer-distance operations for each of its first five or six years. Thereafter, a second five-year stint on more local work will reduce its travelling.
Also operating hookloaders and refuse wagons, the mainstay of the JG Pears truck fleet are tractor units, many of which are fitted with Harsh tipper wet kits. Operating nationally with a fleet of over 300 trailers, they move over 10,000 tonnes of products a week between out-bases, customer premises and the company’s main processing centres. Working night and day, these trucks cover a minimum 500,000km in just two years before they are replaced. By operating only the most modern and best-specified vehicles, the fleet achieves the maximum possible performance, reliability and overall operating economy.
The rigid trucks though work on a different plan. “Principally because of their specialist bodywork, we expect to keep our skips, hooks and bin wagons at least 10 years” says Andrew Bostock, “so getting the spec right at the outset is of fundamental importance - particularly as we will be looking after these trucks ourselves throughout their lifetime. We have every confidence that for maximum weight skip work, whether as a solo unit at 26 tonnes or a drawbar at 44, this Harsh unit will more than deliver on our expectations.”