Yuill & Dodds weighs in with new Mercedes-Benz Actros

High-profile Scottish haulier Yuill & Dodds is achieving significant productivity gains after setting a pair of Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units onto an intensive waste collection contract.

The new trucks make the round trip from Glasgow to Inverness – which can take anything up to nine hours – twice per day. They collect commercial and local authority waste at Inverness which they then tip at a landfill site near Grangemouth.

Supplied by Bellshill dealer Western Commercial, both are 2546 models and fitted, unusually, with weight-saving day cabs – the premium specification Actros is marketed as standard in the UK, with a choice of Long Distance sleeper or flat-floored MegaSpace cabs.

They pull walking floor and ejection trailers which typically carry anything from 24.5 to 26 tonnes of waste.  “This makes them up to a tonne-and-a-half more productive than the similarly-specified, non-Mercedes-Benz trucks we were using on this job previously,” explained Managing Director Brian Yuill. “And because both are double-shifted, that can add up to as much as an extra six tonnes a day, which is very useful indeed.”

Mr Yuill continued: “The Actros were available at the right money and are where we want them to be in terms of fuel economy, while the dealer’s sales executive Martin McGarvey is first class, very enthusiastic and proactive.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Mercedes-Benz builds the best trucks on the market – they give you less bother than other brands.”

In addition to the two Actros, Yuill & Dodds is also running a new Mercedes-Benz Axor X tractor unit. An ex-Western Commercial demonstrator, this entered service last spring. It is fitted with Hyva tipping gear and assigned to a coal-carrying contract.

“The Axor is a simple, lightweight truck that gives us a very competitive 29-tonne payload,” said Mr Yuill. “But for longer runs and more intensive work, we prefer the Actros.”

All three trucks are the subject of four-year operating leases with Mercedes-Benz CharterWay, the manufacturer’s commercial vehicle finance arm. The Axor and one of the Actros are also fitted with Daimler FleetBoard telematics systems.

With a fleet of more than 80 trucks, Yuill & Dodds is a major force in Scottish haulage, providing bulk tipper and logistics transport, and specialising in the disposal of contaminated waste. Sister company SWT Hire Solutions, meanwhile, is a leading supplier of self-drive trucks and trailers.