They are fitted with Charlton’s Quarrymaster tipper body carried on a full length subframe and built in Hardox. The 15.5m3 capacity Quarrymaster features a curved 5mm floor, 4mm single-piece sides and a raked rear end complete with a 150mm high hung tailgate and cab operated air locking.
B&A driver Ronan Murphy said: “There is nothing, absolutely nothing else that can match the performance of this new truck - it will literally do any job, anywhere, with absolute ease and total comfort. When people just see the little R660 and V8 badges on the cab, they just stop and stare for a few seconds to take it all in. That’s the effect this truck has on them!”
B&A Group owner Kevin Berkely said: “we wanted to try out a really top spec of vehicle in order to give us the highest possible level of performance in any operating situation. Although they look very glamorous now, the fact is that these trucks will spend a good part of their working lives on arduous muckshifting jobs, which often means simply moving material from one area of a site to another.
“This is essentially off-road work, where high power engines can really make a difference. As such, we needed a combined chassis and body spec that could handle that type of continuous heavy duty work as quickly and reliably as possible. Against these benefits, their slightly reduced on-road payload allowance of 17.5 tonnes becomes much less significant.
“We have chosen these trucks for their capability to work really hard, each day and every day. A really big, powerful 16 litre engine that’s totally on top of its job should also give us a real productivity bonus by getting jobs done more quickly - as well as maximising reliability and minimising downtime.”
Berkely also points out that such a chassis is of no ultimate benefit if the body it carries is not equally up to the mark. “We’ve fully proven the Quarrymaster over the years on many of our tippers - there’s simply nothing to beat it for long term strength and durability. For muck work, its curved floor helps wet and sticky loads slide out leaving next to no residue, which is important when the trucks are loading and tipping right through the day. Quarrymaster suits our new 660s perfectly.”
Having fully painted both the bodies and cabs at their facility in Dover, Charlton was able to deliver the finished vehicles immediately ready for work. Well aware of the new tippers’ PR and marketing potential for B&A, the two new Scanias have also been registered with the highly distinctive twinned plates of MUK 1 and 1 MUK.
Founded by the late Jimmy Berkely in 1993, family - owned B&A Group continues to grow strongly, not least thanks to the benefits of bringing together the clear synergies of its three main operating divisions of transport & recycling, stone supplies and land regeneration.
Given that the trucks have only been in service for a couple of weeks, their initial fuel returns of 7.5 to 8mpg are impressive for such big and hugely powerful engines. “Having a massive 3,300Nm of torque means smoother progress with lower revs and much reduced gear changing” adds Ronan Murphy.