EDITOR’S CHOICE
Truck & Driver July 2019^11
accommodation. Do the designers
go for evolution and keep the
finely-honed and much-loved
architecture? Or do they go for
revolution and change everything?
It’ll be interesting to find out.
Colin does the odd night out
in the XF but he’s back most
nights to organise the next day’s
loads. On the fleet now are three
brick cranes – a recent new
venture for the company – and
four eight-wheelers.
One of these is an unusual
CF featuring an 8x2 rear-steer
chassis and driven by Alex on tar
and aggregate work. She loves
the truck, describing the turning
circle as even better than a
traditional six-wheeler.
“The brick cranes pretty much
take care of themselves,” Colin
says. The XF spends most of its
time hooked into a new Wilcox
tipping trailer, but it’s also used
on the bricks and flatbeds as
necessary. The XF works hard;
Colin reckons the truck may only
run empty for 30-45 minutes max
over the course of a day.
“It’s returning 6-7mpg, which
doesn’t sound a lot but it doesn’t
spent much time cruising on the
limiter, it’s almost always loaded
and is constantly up and downthe gears. The XF is great to
drive; the new engine brake is
brilliant. I don’t think it pulls quite
as hard as the old 510, but it’s
still bedding in.”
Colin’s also discovered that
the truck gathers a serious
amount of attention, particularly
when hauling a flat or a brick
trailer and the rear of the cab is
visible. With The Greatest
Showman being such a popular
family film, the artwork really
catches the eye of the public.
“I wondered what was wrong
with people to start with,” he
laughs. “You’d get these
people-carriers with families in
sitting alongside me taking
pictures or filming. Then they’d
go past, slow down and make
me overtake them so they could
get the other side!”
As we initially mentioned, the
truck is immaculate but it’s a
constant battle for Colin to keep
on top of it. “I try to get it washed
at least every second day but
some of the places it goes are
unreal. There’s an old colliery
which is now used as a
glass-recycling plant and there
are times you go in there
and the ground is five
inches deep with water