Vita Group trials lead to Euro 5 and now Euro 6 New Actros 23 April 2014

Corby-based Ball & Young, part of the Vita Group, is running its first Euro 6 truck, a 6x2 Mercedes-Benz New Actros 2545 tractor unit commissioned following trials against two unnamed competitors.

Sister company Vitafoam, which manufactures polyurethane foams for the furniture and bedding industry, purchased its first nine Mercedes-Benz trucks – all 4x2 New Actros 1842 tractors – late last year.

Supplied by city Dealer Enza, all 10 tractors have narrow, 2.3m-wide versions of the aerodynamic StreamSpace cab and the new straight-six engines. Ball & Young's Euro 6 New Actros has the 449bhp power plant while Vitafoam's Euro 5 units all have the 421bhp engine.

"We invited four manufacturers to submit demonstration units for trial, although one failed to respond so we ended up with three," states Vita Group transport manager Dave Leigh.

"Our 4x2 tractors are plated for operation at 28 tonnes gcw but, as they're transporting block polyurethane foam, we don't get anywhere near that. Fully loaded, our trailers only weigh about 6.5 tonnes," he continues.

"They are 16 ft high, though, which means the main issue is drag."

Leigh says the company ran each test vehicle for a week at a time using the same drivers on the same runs.

"The New Actros returned the best fuel figure of 10.68 mpg, while the latest model from our established supplier came back at under 10."

Not that fuel economy was the only criterion. "We set up a matrix and considered everything from finance rates and driver comfort, to service and parts availability, and even image," comments Leigh.

"Mercedes-Benz came out well on top. We visited the European Logistics Centre at Mercedes-Benz UK's headquarters in Milton Keynes, and our fleet engineer Chris Colleavy, who played a key role in the decision-making, has been out to the factory in Germany as well.

"Our drivers have undergone Mercedes-Benz training and love their New Actros, which look great on the road. Enza, meanwhile, is now managing an imprest stock of parts at our own workshop."

Vita Group acquired all 10 trucks with funding support from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Enza Motors Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd

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