Newtown, Wales-based G Owen and Sons has taken delivery of a new DAF CF 440 8x2 FAQ tridem bulk-blower for transporting animal feed to farms across Wales and parts of England.
The eight-wheeler, supplied by Greenhous DAF, has a single front-steer axle and a rear tridem set-up with lift-and-steer capability on second and fourth axles. It is the eighth DAF in the operator's fleet.
Dan Owen, director at the family-owned firm, said: “We wanted something that helped us make sense of the large volumes we have to deliver, often made up of smaller individual deliveries, into a variety of tight farmyards. Our local DAF dealer - Greenhous DAF in Shrewsbury - spent a lot of time talking to us and understanding our needs.
“We had six-wheel bulkers, which had been fine, but they only take up to 14.5 tonnes, with the option for up to four individual loads in four bins within the body. That’s okay for more local drops, but when you cover huge and largely rural areas across Wales and a fair bit of nearby England, it starts to become uneconomic and inefficient.”
The new truck can carry up to 19 tonnes, split across five individual bins in the body, so the firm can carry more and make more economical drops from the truck. “All we needed was the steer capability to guarantee us good manoeuvrability in tight areas; and that has been delivered as well by DAF’s FAQ axle configuration”, he said.
“It’s taken a bit of time for the drivers to get used to it; we needed to understand how to really work the axle configuration to get the best results and benefit from the traction capabilities they bring.”
Year: 2016 | Body Type: Tractor unit | Cab Type: Sleeper | Registration: FJ66 UWD | Mileage: 751,000 km | Power: 440 bhp
Year: 2016 | Body Type: Crane | Cab Type: Day | Registration: DS16YNE | Mileage: 218,824 km | Power: 286 bhp
Year: 2017 | Body Type: Skip | Cab Type: Day | Registration: WU17UTJ | Mileage: 224,000 km | Power: 253 bhp
