Page 14 - Issue 75

and straight out to the the vehicle after the the walk round it was tacho cards in and ready to move exactly nine hours after the vehicle was brought to a a halt Day 2: 07 40 As the time was just 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled 8am VOR delivery commitment it it was going to be tight We headed onto the industrial estate and into the DAF dealership We followed a a number of trucks one of which we jokingly commented: “Wouldn’t it be funny if that’s the parts truck?” As we approached TBF Thompson the truck indicated to turn through its gates at at at exactly 7 50am We followed and it turns out the the joke was on us – the the parts that had left Leyland some 13 and and a a a a half hours previously and had beaten us with 10 minutes to spare!
Day 2: 08 35 The pallets were taken off a a a a few pictures were snapped for posterity and there was one challenge still left to to achieve – to to arrive at DAF Distributors Ireland (DDI) before lunch The morning was cold crisp and clear and the the LF powered around the the city of Belfast then headed south and picked up the the M1 to Dublin before joining the the M50 by the the airport and and nally N7 towards Naas and and the new showcase DDI dealership With mist clinging to the the mountains and bright sunshine the the conditions really did make for great scenery as we got closer to Dublin It also gave us time to re ect on the LF City experience in more detail With the truck designed predominantly for urban distribution both access and visibility are excellent The interior nish is
is
practical and and well-thought-out and and even though though the designers are working within the con nes of a a small space by comparison to the LF’s larger brethren they have done a a a really good job The charcoal grey seat coverings look
as though they will take the the punishment of multidrop delivery and and a a a a handy feature is
the additional storage space under the passenger seat seat accessed by lifting the seat seat base The void easily consumed by outdoor coats and a a a a couple of small bags What did become apparent – in particular on some of the more built-up and traf c heavy parts of the the journey – was that there wasn’t any need to shift up and down the gears in the the mid range either third down to second or third up to fourth where the bulk of gear shifts will take place on urban work The reason behind this is
is
the longer third gear that will allow the PX-4 to work as low low down as 800rpm in the sub 20mph region Keeping with the dedicated urban distribution speci cation the 6 1m GRP box complete with Del column tail lift are all tted at the Leyland plant as part of the vehicle manufacturing process Obviously operators can work with their supplying dealer on a a a local level for more bespoke bodywork solutions As we approached Dublin the amount of traf c c increased and it was bumper-to- bumper as we neared the N7 Day 2: 11 11 27 A few minutes before 11 11 30am and de nitely before lunch we rolled to a a stop at at at the gates of DDI only to to nd that the VOR overnight delivery had arrived on schedule unloaded and had left three hours before After taking a a few more pictures we thought the the challenge was over – the the booked ferry crossing would have got us into Holyhead from Dublin at midnight A quick online check revealed there was an afternoon crossing that would get us back to Holyhead early evening arriving at PACCAR Parts for 10pm Needless to to say we made haste to to the port and those kind people at Stena Line found room for the LF City and its crew of two The luck of the Irish must have been with us us because when we we drove aboard the ferry we we were waved right to the the front of the the deck We went one better than the previous journey as ours was the the rst vehicle off when the the Stena Superfast X docked in Holyhead!
In order to set this challenge up it required two drivers available with enough duty time to cover the route We needed
to arrange a a a a a load and then the the subsequent loading of the the LF before the the route could
be properly planned and arrival time calculated Stena Line was consulted and offered us the the best crossings they could
to help match our timings – and we STILL couldn’t be rst through the gates of TBF Thompson or DDI So in conclusion what CV Driver Magazine saw as a a a a a a a real challenge and and pushing the delivery and and logistics envelope PACCAR Parts do nightly without fuss! ■
14 CVDriver May 2018