Specialising in ambient, frozen and chilled distribution, Chiltern Cold Storage is heavily reliant on fleet uptime to deliver under tight time constraints.
The new 44-tonners are powered by a 13-litre engine delivering 450hp and fitted with a two-pedal fully auto-shifted gearbox.
Each is pulling a Gray & Adams 13.6 multi-temp fridge trailer, the R450’s will operate nationally throughout the UK and are already reported to be achieving over 12mpg on some trips.
Managing director Paul Jackson explains: “Fuel returns so far are impressive, but that’s just one element. For me it’s got to be about the whole life cost - the quality of the product, its reliability and the dealer back up we get are just as important.”
On a three-year repair and maintenance contract, the trucks will be maintained by TruckEast Peterborough, local to Chilterns head office and responsible for looking after their other Scanias.
“We use our local branch for everything when it comes to the maintenance and they really do look after us,” affirms Jackson.
Last year Chilterns took delivery of thirteen current generation models.