Trucking Magazine – July 2019

TRUCK ON TRIAL DAF XF480VSSCANIA R500

42 TRUCKING Summer 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.uk

Small midlifts are preferred for

their weight-saving benefits

T

his issue’s Truck on Trial

features two of the best

tractors on the market,

which really cross the divide

between making an operator

money and pleasing drivers: the DAF XF

and the Scania New Gen R-series.

Cambridgeshire-based PJ Thory was

established as a road haulier in 1965

and now concentrates mainly on

aggregates haulage, as well as moving

a bit of plant on low-loaders. The fleet

has built up over the years and it now

runs 34 tractor units, of which eight

are Scanias, 25 are DAFs, plus a

solitary Volvo FM double-drive.

The trailers are a mix of bulk

tippers, moving floors, aggregate

trailers, ejector trailers, bulk moving

floors, sliding steel tippers and flats.

The rigid fleet currently comprises

17 8x4 tippers, of which 14 are DAF

CFs and three are Scania P410 8x4s.

There are no New Gen Scania P-series

in the fleet as yet. The tippers are a

mix of steel-bodied and bulkers.

The company has a main depot at

Coates, near Whittlesey on the east

side of Peterborough, with smaller

depots at Oundle and Nuneaton. It

also owns a sand and gravel quarry

just outside Whittlesey.

Stiff competition

The two trucks in this Trial are in one

of the most competitive sectors going:

450-500 bhp 6x2 tractor units. Sales

reps from all seven manufacturers are

desperate to get their marques into

fleets and there can be some good

deals to be had if you negotiate well,

and negotiate hard.

But it’s a sector where the trucks

are worked hard, and they need to be

up to the job. Dealer back-up is

imperative, and if a dealer doesn’t