Truck & Driver UK – August 2019

(^88) Summer 2019 Truck & Driver
FUSO CANTER
T
he Edge. Not the lead
guitarist in Irish rock
band U2 but what you
need to thrive, or even
just survive, in today’s
competitive world; something
that raises your profile above the
rest. True, it’s price that normally
attracts customers but if you give
the best of service, you may well
be able to attract and retain a
solid following – especially if your
name is Huws Gray.
The builders’ merchant world
has long been dominated by a
few big names, but one of the
trade’s current rising stars set
out with a single branch on
Anglesey, Wales in 1990. Huws
Gray has now expanded into
more than 60 locations across
the North West and Midlands
and is growing fast.
Penrith branch
To see what makes the company
tick, T&D was invited to its
Penrith branch where we
discovered that small can
sometimes be beautiful. While
most merchants’ motors have
grown bigger and bigger – the
26-tonne-crane-equipped
six-wheel rigid now seems the
norm – Huws Gray has found
that the 7.5-tonner can also be
an integral part of its operation.
This favoured distribution
motor of old has lost favour
because of its increased unladen
weight, but if you buy a Fuso
Canter 7C15 then you can have
a steel-bodied tipper that can
carry a smidgeon under a 4.0-
tonne payload – and this modest
load-shifter can also reach parts
of the Lake District that most of
the trade’s load carriers just
wouldn’t even consider.
Based on 3.3 acres of
Penrith’s Gilwilly Industrial Estate,
the town’s Huws Gray operation
provides work for 30 and, while
its roadgoing fleet is only six
The Canter can deliver in bulk up to four tonnes at the flick of a lever
Neat: home-made strapping protection Fuelling up: Canter returns 18-20mpg