Truck & Driver UK – July 2019

Truck & Driver July 2019^61

FODEN & ERF

Cam Davies drives a Scania for his family’s company

The two trucks are now retired, but plenty of examples are still working, especially Alphas

road runs and transporting his

grandfather’s vintage AECs,

Oliver had the opportunity to go

to town with the spec.

There are a lot of neat

touches, such as the ADR panels

on the rear of the cab and roof

spoiler extension; items removed

from trucks going for export.

Oliver also sourced a genuine

Foden-branded fridge and an

upper bunk, along with genuine

Foden seat covers. Aftermarket

parts include a TV, curtains and

extra lights to the rear for

recovery. New alloys were added

along with the light bars.

Mechanically, the truck’s

Cummins 420 has had a new

turbo and the top end has been

set up twice. “Apart from oil,

that’s the most important thing

you can do to keep the engine

running sweet,” says Oliver. It

sounds great too, courtesy of the

custom-made side pipes. The

end result is one of the most

outstanding Alphas in the country.

S M Davies ECX

Operator S M Davies can trace

its roots to 1988, when Steve

Davies started out as an

owner-driver with a Leyland

Freighter. He started working out

of Dingle Nurseries (Welshpool),

and the business grew from

there. Three trucks became five

trucks, and today the fleet totals

25, from vans up to tractor units.

Steve’s son, Cam, studied

engineering at college, including

welding. He attended three days

a week, dividing the rest of his

time working at the yard (he first

got behind the wheel at the age

of 11). He passed his rigid test

when he was 18 and progressed

to driving one for a year,

progressing into an artic.

His work truck is currently a

Scania R520 Highline tag and

he’s out on the road full time on

general haulage duties. The

company does like the tag-axle

configuration as some of the

work entails moving farm

supplies and machined timber,

which requires driving off road.

“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,” he grins.

A rare option

You’ll note the ERF is a tag-axle,

which was a rare option on the

ECX (Foden didn’t offer it on

Alpha at all) and one of the main

reasons the truck was kept for

preservation. Just as well it

wasn’t a midlift!

The truck was supplied new

to Bartram’s, which sold it to

Richard Read before Davies

bought it when it was three years

old. The company had owned a

variety of ERFs over the years,

so it was decided when

production ended to keep this

one as it was so rare in both tag

and Olympic Sovereign trim form.

Having worked hard for four

years, the truck spent a total of

seven years (2008-2015) off the

road, during which time it

was completely rebuilt

from the ground up. “It

Oliver Parry’s family has a long history with the Foden brand