Truck & Driver August 2019^71
KNIGHT OF OLD & MAN
New for Old
They say there’s nothing quite
as good as experience to
teach a man about a job, and
Paul Bunce has got plenty of
that. He’s also seen Knights of
Old change a great deal over
the years, though not in any
way for the worse.
“We used to have a
maximum of 60 trucks and
that included everything, big
and small,” he recalls, “and
it was still family run, by an
actual Knight.”
Like most firms of that size,
Donald knew his staff inside
out. “He used to know your
first name, your wife’s name,your kid’s name, and his office
was always open.”
While inevitably the
growth of the company since
Donald’s retirement has
changed the atmosphere
somewhat, that doesn’t
mean the job has become
impersonal at depot level.
Knights of Old has three main
yards now – Kettering, Luton
and Derby – with numerous
smaller satellites.
“I still think it’s like a family,
just a larger family,” Paul says.
“People ask why I’m still here
but I’m happy with what I do.
The job is easy and they know
me very well,” he assures us.
“I’ve known Paul Abbott, my
main boss, for years.”she was getting herself into; she
used to work for Knights as well!
Nowadays Paul goes out
tramping from Monday to Friday,
with the odd run out on a
Sunday, so a comfortable cab is
important to him – it’s his home.
“The space in the MAN is
good, better than the Scania,
and the bed’s bigger as well,” he
says, which again may surprise
some. “It’s bigger and it’s actually
been thought out. It has tons of
storage space.”
Paul also has a factory-fitted
fridge and microwave, but that’s
actually standard specification for
Knights of Old. “We’ve been
having them fitted in most of our
vehicles since around 2012,”
Scott Mason explains. “The thing
is, if you always eat in truckstopsetc it’ll start getting expensive,
and you can eat healthier meals
with a microwave.” Scott is quite
happy to fit most things drivers
ask for, within sensible reason.
“Around half the fleet have
inverters in them from when we
initially fitted household
microwaves, but if drivers asked
for one in another vehicle we’d
accommodate them.”Original livery
As the 100th truck, Paul’s MAN
has a few other extras – alloy
wheels, leather seats and trim
and chrome steps, for starters.
It’s also the only new vehicle on
the fleet to carry Knights of Old’s
original red and blue livery. “It
makes a statement,” Paul grins.
“Especially at the show, it really
did.” That’s the only thing that’s
retro about it, though. “It has all
the modern technology; cameras,
Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive
Cruise Control with Emergency
Brake Assist... I’m getting used
to that last one now!”
But perhaps the biggest
change to this latest generation
of the TGX is the new TipMatic
gearbox, which is based on ZF’s
TraXon, a piece of kit some claim
could knock Volvo’s I-Shift off its
pedestal as the popular gold
standard for automated manual
transmissions. “I’ve driven I-Shift,
and when it came out it was the
best,” Paul tells us. “This is nice.
It’s very smooth, and when you
want to go, it goes.”
One of the most regularly
expressed complaints about
TraXon’s predecessor, AS-Tronic,
was that it was slow to select a
gear when pausing at a junction
or roundabout, but this seems to
have been solved. “I think they’ve
got it right,” Paul says. “You pull
up and sit there, then you’ve
obviously got a slight delay while
you put your foot down, but I
think it responds quicker than the
Scania gearbox and it’s nearly as
good as the I-Shift. Nearly!”
Coming from, deep down, a
Volvo man, that’s high praise
indeed and bodes well for
Paul’s long-term relationship
over the next few years.
“Drivers always rated the top
three manufacturers and MAN
was never in it,” he says, “but
the company must have been
talking to drivers because now
it’s really getting it right. A lot of
our guys have got MANs now
and have said to me, ‘I’d drive
that tomorrow’. They really have
come on immensely.”Driver Paul Bunce is impressed
with the quick-shifting TraXon ’box