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Bartrums Haulage and Storage has given a resounding ‘thumbs up’ to the new 12-speed Mercedes PowerShift automated transmissions fitted to its latest Actros Long Distance tractor units.
Powered by 460hp BlueTec® Euro 5 engines, the 10 Actros 2546s have joined a fleet of around 140 trucks, most of them tractors, in which Mercedes-Benz and DAF are the predominant marques. Seven of the new vehicles are now working with bulk tipping trailers, the remaining three are on general haulage duties.
Because they are also fitted with NOx sensors, Bartrums’ Euro 5 trucks attract Reduced Pollution Certificates that will bring savings in Vehicle Excise Duty of £500 per year, for the life of each vehicle.
Like most manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz employs Selective Catalytic Reduction technology to clean emissions. And in contrast to Euro 5 products launched recently by two rival truck-makers that employ the alternative Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system, BlueTec® SCR Euro 5 Mercedes have already been proven in operation over many millions of miles both in the UK and on the Continent.
Established in 1929 and still family-owned and operated, Bartrums is now wholly based in Eye, Suffolk, where it has some 120,000sq ft of warehousing; the company sold its previous site in Diss, Norfolk, earlier this year. It buys its Mercedes from Ipswich dealer Orwell Truck and Van but maintains them in the new workshop it has just opened at Eye.
Bartrums’ previous batch of 12 Actros arrived in the summer of 2006. All Euro 3 models, they were some of the first trucks in Britain to be equipped with fully electronic Mercedes PowerShift transmissions. However, these were 16-speed units – the 12-speed did not become available in Britain until earlier this year.
Today, operators can choose from both versions, although for general haulage operations Mercedes-Benz recommends the 12-speed transmission. It is a recommendation with which David Reid, Fleet Engineer at Bartrums, agrees.
“We’ve never had a problem with the 16-speed PowerShift,” he confirms. “The fuel returns are pretty good and the drivers like the two-pedal set-up because it’s so easy to use. But the 12-speed is definitely more responsive, and is hanging onto the gears longer.”
Bartrums’ drivers are particularly impressed with Mercedes PowerShift’s Manoeuvring Mode, which reduces the rev range to 1,000rpm. “It gives them much finer control over the throttle,” explains Mr Reid, “which is particularly useful when they’re backing into spaces and coupling up.
”And when they’re in London or the other big cities PowerShift really comes into its own because instead of having to keep thinking about what gear they’re in, they can concentrate on steering the truck and leave it to change gears itself.”
Bartrums’ tractors return an average of 8.6-8.7mpg. Within a few weeks of going on the road the three Euro 5 Actros assigned to general haulage were already hitting this figure, and Mr Reid confidently expects further improvements in economy as they ‘bed in’.
Explaining the decision to spend an extra £1,000 per unit by skipping Euro 4 and going straight to Euro 5, he adds: “The RPCs will allow us to recover the price premium in just two years, and thereafter we’re saving £50 annually. We also anticipate that when we do come to move them on in about six years’ time, Euro 5 vehicles will command stronger residual values than their Euro 4 equivalents.” |
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