The DAF vehicles offer rear-steer capability, air suspension, a lightweight ‘highway’ chassis and Fruehauf’s new Aggri-Roll (Mk III) non-tipping ‘V’ body, as well as a sleeper cab. They were supplied by the local DAF Dealer in Norwich, Ford & Slater.
The first job of the first CF 410 FAW is with the company’s contract with road construction company, Kier Highways. Fruehauf’s aluminium construction Aggri-Roll non-tip body delivers aggregate via a moving conveyor floor which dispenses material directly to the road surfacing machine. The 16 cubic-metre hopper discharges just under 20 tonnes of aggregate in under two minutes.
DAF’s new ‘FAW’ axle configuration is said to combine four-axle payload potential with 6x4 manoeuvrability. A new 10-tonne front axle brings additional loading tolerance across the chassis. The new FAW axle configuration is also available with the XF cab in Space, Super Space and ‘Comfort’ cab variants and with both MX-11 and MX-13 engines with ratings up to 523bhp. The FAW can be specified with the ZF TraXon automated gearbox or the optional Ecosplit 16-speed manual gearbox.
Managing director of the customer, Rory Holbrook, said: “After my contact at Kier saw a conveyor floor on one of our trailers, he asked if the methodology would transfer onto an eight-wheel rigid. We sat down with DAF, Ford & Slater and Fruehauf, and the answer was ‘yes’. The result is a truly no-compromise solution.”
General manager at Kier Highways, Andy Mayos, added, “The introduction of the non-tipping DAF with the conveyor floor body for our surface dressing operation has delivered a significantly safer working environment for our workforce. We no longer contend with overhead cables and the associated risks of cable strikes. Also, our clients no longer need to undertake time-consuming overhead cable surveys, and there’s no requirement for us to implement ‘no tipping zones’. Our operation is wholly more efficient as a result,” he said, “and we hope that the wider industry adopts this solution as standard practice.
The Holbrook fleet now comprises a majority of 40 DAFs from a total of 65 vehicles. Regular repair and maintenance is carried out at Rory J.Holbrook’s wholly-owned Attleborough Service Centre company.