5,000th built and bodied DAF truck rolls off Leyland production line 31 March 2014

The 5,000th DAF truck built and bodied at Leyland Trucks was handed over to Royal Mail at an event last Friday (28 March 2014) at the Lancashire assembly plant.

The LF 7.5 tonner is one of the first Euro 6 trucks in the Royal Mail fleet and is the latest of more than 700 Paccar bodied vehicles supplied to the UK's postal service.

Paul Gatti, director of fleet and maintenance services, and Rob Cooksley, procurement director for vehicles, assets and logistics at Royal Mail, received the truck from Ron Augustyn, managing director of Leyland Trucks, and DAF Trucks UK managing director Ray Ashworth.

"Our ability to produce Paccar bodies in-house can significantly reduce delivery lead times," comments Ron Augustyn, Leyland Trucks managing director – adding that from truck chassis assembly, to a fully bodied, painted and lettered finished vehicle can take 24 hours.

"In the case of the trucks we are building and bodying for Royal Mail, we complete the vehicle, livery it, organise its registration and taxation and deliver it direct to a designated depot where it immediately enters service," he explains.

Since Leyland Trucks started the Paccar body programme, the firm has extended the range of bodies so that it now covers box bodies and curtainsiders up to 18 tonnes.

"This puts DAF well ahead of the game in terms of being able to provide our customers with a vehicle that in its entirety is built to the exacting quality standards for which Leyland Trucks is renowned and which fully meets WVTA requirements," says Ray Ashworth, MD of DAF Trucks.

The vehicle being handed over to Royal Mail was a 7.5 tonne LF fitted with a 5.15 metre box body and a cantilever tail-lift. The organisation chose the 4.5 litre, four-cylinder Paccar PX-5 Euro 6 engine rated at 152bhp.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
DAF Trucks Ltd
Leyland Trucks Ltd

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