It’s all bells and whistles on Arclid’s new DAFs
Cutting out weight, ensuring driver comfort and presenting a professional image were all factors in the decision by Cheshire operator Arclid Transport to put a pair of highly-specified DAF XF105s into their 25-vehicle fleet.
Transport manager Peter Conway says that faced with rising fuel costs the company wanted to move from powering the blowers and tipping gear on their Feldbinder bulk powder tankers from a gearbox-mounted PTO to using a ‘self contained’ system.
This involved modification of the tanker trailers by W G Tanker Services to enable them to use a donkey engine to do the blowing and tipping work. As this could run on red diesel this would result in significant cost savings. The system also came with a noise reduction pack enabling the engines to run at around 80dB, which ensures almost silent discharge. However, because the added weight would reduce payload, the company needed to find a way to compensate for that.
The answer lay in choosing the DAF FTP mid-lift axle model, which uses smaller 17.5 inch wheels on the lift axle rather than the standard 22.5 inch wheels normally found on this type of 6 x 2 tractor. This saves around half of tonne of weight, which along with an alloy tank and alloy wheels on both the tractor and the 42 cubic metre tri-axle trailers, helps to compensate for the additional weight of the donkey engine and brings the trucks back close to their required payload.
With drivers spending up to four nights sleeping in their trucks, Arclid also decided that DAF’s Super Space cab would offer some extra comfort. This has the largest amount of space of any tractor unit on the market with ample headroom to allow even the tallest person to stand up comfortably. The generously proportioned bunk ensures a comfortable night’s sleep and there are numerous pockets and storage spaces for a driver’s personal gear.
The DAFs came factory-fitted with a full-width sun visor, four spotlights inset into the bumper and stylish ‘skylights’ set into the corners of the roof. These lights are supplemented by a Kelsa anodised aluminium lighting bar carrying a quartet of powerful Hella Rallye 3000 spotlights along with a pair of hazard beacons. Set against the distinctive magenta and white Arclid livery, these additions result in trucks that are real head-turners and which present a powerful image to customers.
Power for the 105s is from the 12.9 litre MX engine rated at 460 bhp (340 kW). At this power rating this Euro 5 compliant engine delivers an impressive 2300 Nm of torque at between 1000 and 1410 rpm, enabling smooth move offs in all road or load conditions. The engine is matched to a 16-speed ZF16S2520 gearbox.
With the trucks covering around 110,000 kilometres on work throughout the UK and with no idling time required to power the discharge equipment, Arclid are looking to see a reduction in their fuel bills from an engine renowned for its fuel efficiency. As the company now holds an international operating licence, they are also planning to use them in mainland Europe when work arises.
Peter Conway says that the highly professional support from the supplying dealer Imperial Commercials of Stoke made the acquisition of the trucks very straightforward.
“From the point at which we agreed the specification and price and placed the order we hardly heard from them again until the trucks were in their yard ready for handover,” he says.
“We were also very happy with the standard of finish achieved by the Leyland assembly plant and look forward to good service from the trucks during the six years we will keep them.”
Arclid has also ordered a DAF CF85 eight-wheeler with rear steer axle for delivery early in 2010. This 4.6 metre wheelbase model is the shortest available and this, together with the rear-steer capability, will enable it to be used on deliveries where access is restricted.
