Is it me or are Ford chassis everywhere?

[Brock]

Within the speed limits for a 3.05/3500 ton van and lower speeds when he has the trailer with him. He also complies with all other legislation and rules because the penalties for not doing are severe. He has a clean driving record.

 

In the Transit, my son needs a break every three hours and say an hour and a bit for unloading. He can do 4 hours stretch with less than half the time for unloading in the better specced Iveco with its 180bhp motor and auto box.

 

On a typical up to 400 mile run from Liverpool he can save about 10% of driving time in the Iveco compared to the Transit. The unloading savings come from having air suspension [no breakages] and more flexibility in load distribution. The labour savings on a day's run averages about £16 in the Iveco. The Iveco runs almost every day and so can save £400pm on labour alone. The Iveco is highly geared so consistently manages mid 30s mpg. It has two fuel tanks holding a total of 200litres which is bought from CostCo - no stopping to fill up at expensive fuels stations. When he arrives at the customers, he is fresh as a daisy in the Iveco and that sustains a high level of repeat/new customer business which is deemed to be productive time.

 

The savings cannot be consistently achieved because traffic hold-ups, speed restrictions, DVSA inspections, unprepared customers can slow him down but then they would in the Transit - the Iveco has self weighing equipment on board so overloading is never an issue.

 

Some routes suit the Iveco, some don’t in which case a different van is used or goods are transhipped en-route. The firm’s Transit is much better for local runs. Modern logistics is definitely a mix of art and science! Careful routing can make a big difference as can being choosy as to the customer location to ensure it is profitable business.

 

Bulletguy, I know the horrors of the M60 because my family live in New Mills, the other side of Stockport. Because we live and work on the coast, we can avoid it if necessary.

[Bulletguy]

Brock - 2018-08-01 2:58 PM

 

Bulletguy, I know the horrors of the M60 because my family live in New Mills, the other side of Stockport. Because we live and work on the coast, we can avoid it if necessary.

I'm a bit more south of there actually. Thankfully long retired and when working, fortunate in that my daily commute was all country 'B' road so no towns, traffic jams etc! Further north on M6 is fine and driving to Scotland is a sheer pleasure. Returning from a friends place up there i once hit the M74 at 8.30am and wondered where everyone was. The road was deserted!

 

Where Birmingham has gone totally wrong imo is the toll road which has been an abysmal failure as hardly anyone uses it due to the excessive fees. Not so long ago it was up for sale. It would help Birmingham if they cancelled the toll fee and used it to divert non-commercial traffic away from the city.