Truck & Driver UK – September 2019

(^30) August 2019 Truck & Driver
BRIARWOOD VOLVOS
W
hen a lot of your
business comes via
word of mouth, then
having an
impressive truck

• driven by a skilled and
  professional driver – goes a long
  way to making a great first
  impression and, crucially,
  securing new business. Oly
  Janes, managing director of
  Briarwood Products, knows this,
  which is why when he bought two
  new Volvos last year he kitted
  them out to be top spec.
  Briarwood, based in
  Highbridge, Somerset, supplies
  roofing and building materials
  and related products to the
  agricultural sector and has done

for more than 40 years. “A lot of

our business comes from the fact

we deliver direct to sites,” explains

Janes. “Often the next-door

farmer sees our lorry delivering

new roofing sheets or whatever

to his neighbour and he may then

call us with a business request.

That’s why our vehicles need to

be something impressive.”

And Briarwood’s Volvos are

certainly that. The FH540

Globetrotter tractors have a

3000mm wheelbase and

tag-axles. Their D13K engines

produce 540hp and are fitted with

I-Shift Dual-Clutch automated

gearboxes. The medium-height,

all air-suspended chassis also

feature higher fixing heights for

their Jost JSK37 fifth wheels.

The trucks boast Dura-Bright

Evo alloy wheels, additional

light-bars and associated wiring

from AD Auto Electrical, as well

as liveries from Complete Wrap

UK. In addition, they come with

36-month Volvo Gold service

contracts out of the dealer’s

Bridgwater branch.

Flexible spec

“That’s the key thing with Volvo, I

could have what I wanted, the

specification was very flexible,”

says Janes. “I am very picky and

because I could go for anything, I

sort of did, even to fifth wheel

height and position, the type of

tyres on the truck – there was

nothing we didn’t change from

the original.”

But these are the first Volvos

that Briarwood has bought in 25

years. Back in the 1970s, when

Janes’s dad ran the business and

the company was then

predominantly involved in cattle

dealing, Briarwood ran Volvos in

the fleet. Indeed, as Janes notes,

his dad’s claim to fame back then

was that he brought the first

production drawbar-spec F10

into the country.

However, for many years

Briarwood had been Scania

stalwarts and were very happy

with them. But it was by chance

that Volvo’s sales rep, Wayne

Bryant, caught Janes in the yard

FH540 tag-axle Globetrotters represent a top-spec return to the other Swedish marque