(^60) July 2019 Truck & Driver
FODEN & ERF
W
e spotted this pair
of trucks at Full of
the Pipe in Ireland
last year, the two
Brits standing out
somewhat among the legions of
Scanias. Friends Oliver Parry
and Cam Davies, who attend
many shows and events with the
trucks, had travelled over for the
weekend. Without a doubt, both
Alpha and ECX are two of the
finest remaining examples. Hard
worked over the years, the Alpha
has 710,000km on the clock,
while the ECX is just shy of the
magic 1,000,000km.
T J Parry’s Alpha
The Parry family has a long and
fascinating history in haulage.
M J Parry started its operation in
1928; it ran until November 1991
when the business was wound
up and the five-acre site in
Shrewsbury sold. At the time the
fleet was 20-strong, consisting
mostly of Seddon Atkinsons. The
trucks had always been serviced
in-house, and the workshop had
increasingly been taking on
repair and maintenance work
from other hauliers.
A change of direction was
decided upon, and M J’s son
Trevor established a new
business, at a new site, as a
commercial vehicle repairer,
securing a contract as a Foden
service agent. The company
soon became well known for its
expertise with all aspects of Foden
trucks, including the Caterpillar
and Cummins engines.
The Foden name was retired
in 2006, but Parry maintained the
Foden service contract for
another five years and continues
to offer an expert service for the
vehicles today. Fodens may be
getting old now but a surprising
number are still operating.
“When the five years came to
an end, we weren’t able to move
over to Daf due to our location
being too close to a main dealer,”
explains Chris Parry. “We kept
our Caterpillar and Cummins
“We’ve a mix of midlift and tag. I like
the tag set-up; it can make you look
good when the going gets tight”
parts supply going though, and
Caterpillar made us one of its
approved parts suppliers.”
CAT cut-back
As CAT truck engines became
less common, the American
earthmoving giant cut back its
parts dealer network a few years
ago from 40 to 10. Parry, with its
extensive experience, continued.
It is now one of the top resources
for anything CAT-related in the
UK, sending parts out all over the
country and also with the ability
to repair and reprogram ECUs, a
specialised job requiring a CAT
password to get into the ECU.
“Even that isn’t easy, as most
of its truck engine people have
either moved on, been made
redundant or retired,” says Chris.
Since the Foden service
agency days came to a close, the
company has also evolved into a
fully independent truck repairer,
its Shrewsbury site has expanded
and a new DVSA test-lane
installed. It now works on all
types of vehicle.
“It’s amazing how well the
Fodens lasted. We have
traditionally picked up a lot of
business from the mid-Wales
area, which is big quarry and
timber country,” says Chris.
“Many of the people who used
Alphas have only recently moved
on to newer vehicles.”
The company bought an
Alpha in 2009, when it was five
years old and had just come off a
lease deal. It’s the beautiful blue
example you see on these pages.
Originally supplied by Birmingham
Truck Centre, the truck was
operated by P W Wilcox. Parry
did warranty work for the haulier,
and knew the truck well.
Oliver Parry was born into the
family business and recalls
cycling home from school
(quicker than using the bus) so
he could get his overalls on and
start work. He served his time as
a mechanic, attending the City of
Bristol College for three years,
achieving an advanced
apprenticeship in heavy vehicle
maintenance and repair. He was
still at college when the Foden
was bought, the process of
changing it into the truck it is
today starting a year later.
Obviously, with the truck still
relatively new at the time, it was
tidy but it still received a full
strip-down for a respray, including
the chassis in red (which has
since been done again). Geoff
James of Nescliffe was the man
tasked with painting the truck.
Now retired
It worked until 2015, employed on
recovery and trailer test duties,
before being replaced by a
Scania. Now used just for shows,
nandana
(Nandana)
#1