Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
North-east independent builders’ merchant James Burrell has just ordered a further six new-generation Mercedes-Benz Arocs six-wheeler trucks.
The Gateshead-based company operates from a network of 10 branches located throughout the North-East and Yorkshire. Each day its 36 trucks – the majority of them 26-tonne Mercedes-Benz dropsiders with cranes – deliver in excess of 1,000 tonnes of material.
James Burrell has held Bronze accreditation from the Fleet Operator Scheme (FORS) for several years, but its sights are now set on the next, Silver level. “With their comprehensive safety specifications these impressive new trucks can only help us to achieve this goal,” said assistant transport manager Graham Johnston.
“The feedback on MirrorCam from our drivers is overwhelmingly positive. They tell me the images relayed to the screens on the truck’s A-pillars are crisp and bright, and that they can see a lot more of what’s going on around them, with fewer blind spots, than would be possible with normal mirrors.”
The Arocs are fitted with bodywork by Dependable Bodies, also of Gateshead, and rear-mounted Hiab cranes that work with brick and block grabs. Their 7.7-litre in-line six-cylinder engines produce 235 kW (320 hp) and are proving impressively economical.
“The new trucks are certainly pulling out some very good mpg figures,” continued Johnston. “It’s difficult to be precise because so many variables come into play. Obviously, routes and loads differ, while the cranes are driven by the engine PTO (power take-off) so also consume fuel when they’re working. But at 10 mpg our latest Arocs look to be between 1.2 and 2 mpg ahead of the fleet average, which is very encouraging.”
