Supplied by dealer Orwell Truck & Van, the Norwich-based operator’s new additions are all Actros 2545 models with flat-floored BigSpace cabs. They are powered by 450bhp straight-six engines driving through Powershift 3 automated transmissions.
The Actros are replacements for another marque and join FreightForce’s 36-strong mixed truck fleet. They are supplied on a CharterWay contract hire deal through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
Freightforce’s managing director Nick Jolley has high expectations for fuel savings, after a demonstrator vehicle returned up to 13 mpg.
“Even when pulling a full 26 tonnes that truck was well into the 10s, which put it a good mile ahead of our 15-plate, Swedish-built trucks,” says Jolley. “Our fleet average is 8.5 mpg so an improvement of this magnitude will represent a very tidy saving indeed.”
The operator was keen to send a positive signal to its drivers, as Jolley explains: “One very good way of doing so was to reward them with the best vehicles in which to live and work. And that, we felt, meant the Actros BigSpace.
“We like to think that by spending a bit extra on these highly specified, comfortable, spacious and exceptionally safe new trucks, not only have we improved our chances of retaining existing staff, but we have also made the job of attracting new drivers that bit easier, too.”
He adds: “If the trucks continue to live up to their early promise, and Orwell performs as well as we hope when it comes to the all-important back-up, there is every prospect of our returning with new orders in the future.”