(^84) August 2019 Truck & Driver
RETRO TRUCK
H
aving recently (in 2018)
marked its 25th year in
production, early
models of the FH, one
of Volvo’s most
successful truck models to date,
are now proving popular for retro
truck restorers and collectors. A
handful of operators still rely on
FHs from the 1990s or early
2000s as yard shunters or local
delivery motors, but Sproxton,
Melton Mowbray-based Vince
Sharpe still prefers to keep his
2002 Volvo FH working full time
at the front line.
Vince’s working partnership
with his FH12.500 stretches back
to 2003, when he bought the
then year-old truck from truck
dealer Automobilia of Zarren,
near Ieper in Belgium. In line with
Belgian legislation, the Volvo FH
was MoT tested when brand new
on 2 May 2002 and Vince’s
comprehensive in-cab history file
still contains that extra certificate.
Equipped with Volvo’s D12D
Euro 3 engine producing 500hp,
the FH also comes with a
12-speed manual gearbox. The
Globetrotter XL cab has had a
rooftop air-con unit fitted since
new and the interior hosts a
single bunk with additional Volvo
Mind your own Beeswax: Vince works
exclusively for Beeswax Dyson Farming
Farming for the future
Nowadays Vince Sharpe Haulage works exclusively for Beeswax
Dyson Farming (owned by businessman Sir James Dyson of
vacuum cleaner fame) in Lincolnshire, moving whatever crops are
in season. The haulage operation there is a complete year-round
job and in winter, as with our shift, Vince moves forage maize or
compost into an anaerobic digestion plant located within one of
the Beeswax Dyson Farming sites.
“The yearly crops start in late April with rye grass and finish
in late October with maize. The late summer cereal harvest is, of
course, my busiest time. During then I’m often out in the fields
loading directly from combine harvesters. I started doing this
work about three years ago and the people at Beeswax Dyson
Farming are really superb to work with. The company’s policy
of using local suppliers and treating them fairly with effective
working partnerships is fantastic.”
In the early days of this association, Vince would return to
European work if things went quiet, but it’s been non-stop here
since June 2018. “I stay in the truck four or five nights a week
- it’s what I’ve always been used to and return home to Melton
Mowbray at the weekends. The facilities for visiting drivers at
the three main BDF farms I visit are first class. I have access to
everything I need in a new building. There are toilets, showers and
a fully-equipped kitchen. You couldn’t ask for better.”
Our journey to Carrington sees the forage maize tipped within
minutes, thanks to Vince’s expertise with the walking floor trailer
and the attentions of two mechanical spreader drivers, who shift
the cargo away within minutes.
The return trip is run empty back to Metheringham for another
load of the same. Vince regularly carries out longer delivery
operations and these provide some welcome variety.
“The walking floor trailer is ideal for transporting one-tonne
bags of fertiliser. There are no load security issues and the bags
can be ‘walked’ to the back door edge for easy unloading.”
Sharpe thinking: Vince has certainly had his money’s worth from the FHstorage units above.
To mitigate blindspots on the
left-hand-drive tractor, an
additional ‘cleavage’ mirror is
fitted; further blind-side
observations are via an offside
camera mounted on the cab
access steps. The latter’s monitor
is fixed in front of the passenger
seat, perfectly aligned with the
driver’s mirror assembly views.
Vince also uses a forward-facing
camera and, in a nod to its Euro
zone provenance, the FH still
sports a French toll collect tag
device in its windscreen.FH update
“This was one of the early FH
Generation IIs built. It comes with
all the original model’s pedigree
and a few facelifted components,”
reports Vince. Used almost
exclusively on European
transport, operating from
Belgium for its first few years in
service, the FH was eventually
UK registered, with a private
plate, in January 2009.
Nowadays it hauls a Kraker
moving floor trailer on bulk
agricultural work across the UK.
Our shift with Vince starts at
the former RAF Metheringham
airfield, now used for farming but