(^42) August 2019 Truck & Driver
SLIGO HAULAGE
something I wouldn’t be
happy to do myself.”
Indeed, if a driver
likes the truck, is keen on his job
and is happy, he is much more
likely to treat the vehicle well,
which helps with reliability and
economy. Ireland is suffering the
same driver shortage as the UK,
and it’s just as expensive to get
your HGV licence. So Stephen’s
policy of retaining good drivers by
treating them with respect and
giving them good equipment to
work with is paying dividends.
A third Super Space is about
to go on the road this summer.
Previously the favoured spec was
Space Cabs and, originally, only
one of the two 2018 anniversary
trucks was to be a Super Space.
“We figured they should really be
the same in the end,” says
Gareth. For the third truck, the
intention was to go back to a
Space Cab, but the price
difference was only €3000 (about
£2675) more for a Super Space.
More desirable
“The residual value of the Super
Space would probably make up
for that and, as the truck is more
desirable to the drivers, we’ve
gone for a third one,” explains
Gareth. “The cab is maybe a little
tall for some of our work – rural
Irish roads are tight and you have
to watch for trees – but we’ve got
good drivers who know what
they’re doing.”
Power outputs of the new
trucks are 480hp and they also
feature the 17.5-inch mid-lift axle.
Traditionally Sligo Haulage has
favoured 4x2s, which could run at
42 tonnes in Ireland, but the law
changed to 40 tonnes. “Some of
the containers we collect can be
in excess of 40 tonnes, so we’ve
gone for the extra axle to give us
that flexibility for those and with
backloads,” says Gareth.
In Ireland, a six-axle artic can
gross 46 tonnes; it’s rare anything
Sligo moves would be that heavy,
but the option is there.
As mentioned, the fuel
economy from the latest
long-geared, low-end torque
TraXon ’box trucks has been
outstanding. Gareth monitors the
fuel economy; because the
routes and the freight are so
varied, it’s hard to get a definitive
figure but he reckons that at any
given moment the new 480s are
doing anywhere from 0.5mpg to
Expectant dad Gareth Mullen has joined his father, Stephen, in the family business
romina
(Romina)
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