Supplied by dealer Euro Commercials, the Swansea-based operator’s new vehicle is an Arocs 3248K with StreamSpace sleeper cab and fitted with a steel Thompsons tipping body. The truck’s 12.8-litre, straight-six engine transmits its 476bhp output via a 12-speed Mercedes PowerShift automated gearbox.
The new eight-wheeler is achieving 7.7 mpg when pulling a digger or other plant on a three-axled, low-loader trailer – well ahead of the 6 mpg average achieved by the company’s other 32-tonne tippers.
The vehicle is currently on muckaway work. “The Arocs has bags of power and pulls really well up the hills, even when it has a full load on,” says operations manager Jake Stephens. “The cab is well laid out and the smooth auto ’box contributes to a very comfortable drive.
“Off-road performance, meanwhile, is particularly impressive, thanks to the excellent traction and the fact that the Arocs sits higher and has more ground clearance than our other eight-wheelers.”
Proprietor Gavin Griffiths took advice from another operator before making his selection: “I’m glad we went ahead because our first impressions of the Arocs have been entirely positive – the driver loves it and a fuel-saving of more than one-and-a-half miles per gallon is well worth having, which helps to explain why we’re now looking forward to taking delivery of a second example in March.”
The Arocs is supplied with a Mercedes R&M contract and will be inspected and serviced by Euro Commercials.
“We’ll be monitoring the Arocs’ reliability and the aftersales support over the next three years, but if it continues to perform as well as it is currently, and if the re-sale value proves as strong as we hope, then there’s every chance we’ll be adding more Arocs to the fleet in the future,” adds Griffiths.