City West Commercials has won a UK record contract with an order for 50 Mercedes-Benz trucks.
Somerset-based Hopkins Concrete supplies ready-mix concrete and aggregates, and provides muckaway and concrete pumping services, throughout the South-West. A vast the majority of the trucks ordered will be Arocs 8×4 rigids with S day cabs and 394hp Euro VI engines. Of these, 25 will be Arocs 3240B models with lightweight Hymix mixer drums, and 20 will be 3240K tipper chassis fitted with steel muckaway bodies by Abba Commercials. The remaining five vehicles will be Arocs 2545 tractor units with StreamSpace cabs, 330 kW (449 hp) engines and mid-lift axles.
The family-run company runs a fleet of 60 trucks. Most of their fleet will be stood down to make way for the new Arocs.
Commenting on the deal, Hopkins operations manager Ben Legg said: “We’ve seen a remarkable improvement in fuel economy from the Arocs. In some cases they’re as much as a mile and a half per gallon ahead of our established vehicles.
“Due to the nature of our work, we do not have the luxury of motorway trunking and, spending a lot of time on hills and country lanes, it is rare that we achieve the highest fuel figures. But the Arocs are typically returning 8mpg and sometimes a little more on the exactly the same runs where we were previously getting 6.5-7 mpg.
“An improvement of that magnitude, if replicated across the entire fleet, is worth a lot of money to the business. What’s more, our new Mercedes-Benz vehicles are not even fully run in yet; we should start to see the optimum fuel performance once they have 30-40,000 miles on their clocks.”
Also important to Hopkins Concrete was the highly competitive body and payload allowance of the 8×4 Arocs mixer chassis.
Legg added: “Weight has become a major issue in the concrete industry, because as a result of Euro VI, trucks have inevitably become heavier. “But City West have demonstrated that with a bit of fine-tuning to the chassis, and with Hymix’s lightweight bodies, we’ll still be able to carry our standard, 8m3 load of concrete.”
“The Mercedes-Benz team has been very professional and positive throughout the negotiations over our fleet renewal programme. City West Commercials will be inspecting and servicing our new trucks during the evenings, so they are always available for work when we need them.”
City West Commercials dealer principal, Graeson Clarke, added: “The signing of the deal with Hopkins Concrete is a significant development for the construction industry in the South West. The new Arocs range is helping businesses throughout the region cut their costs whilst our excellent customer support team is ensuring their commercial vehicle fleets are maintained stress-free.”
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