Just had a good night with "Barbara Hilary" - 56k No.

[Scania]

No, not some back street tart - a Swedish beauty!

Got my chance to try out one of the first batch of Stobart / Irlam Scania R420's that will ,it appears, replace the DAF fleet currently run by James Irlam Logistics (Now part of the Stobart Group).

Enjoy the pictures.

R420 = R for the Series ,420 is the engine output in BHP.

What a superb piece of kit! Despite being a self confessed Scania enthusiast, I was not expecting the Scania to fare that well compared with the 07 plate DAF 105XF's Irlams currently run, they are very very good trucks, true to form however, Scania has come up with the goods. Better (except internal cab space) than the DAF in every way.

A Dash that looks more like that from a car than a truck.

Air Suspended seat with lumbar support.

Remote control central locking / Alarm.

It has Scanias "Opticruise" gearbox, an automatic with a clutch pedal! - in practice, it works very well, you use the clutch for pulling off & reversing, giving you far better control than the fully auto DAFs, as long as you keep the truck rolling, you forget the clutch altogether so traffic jams are not so bad. Its a compromise but a good one imo.

 

[Scania]

Some assorted exterior pics.

And, some of the engine & gearbox.

And, the radiator & inter cooler - Note the shock absorbers, part of the cab suspension.

Airlines & "5th Wheel".

 

[Scania]

The Vehicles "Isotrak" best explained by a visit to http://www.isotrak.com/

This is the gear selector.

A nice touch, somewhere to store your bottle of pop.

 

[Scania]

Excellent sounding Clarion ICE setup.

It even has its own remote control!

Digital Tachograph.

Scanias Mirror setup.

O/Side.

N/Side.

Front corner mirror.

And, probably one of my favourite little touches,a pad on the door to stop your elbow rubbing!

The Scania R Series, Imo - the best in the business.

 

[Scania]

sorry if these are noob questions but is it an automatic?

and

how does it limit you to 60mph, can you just keep your foot on the floor and it electronicaly limits you?

Yes, its an automatic, although you have to use the clutch to pull away & reverse.

Its limiter works via the fuel pump, once it reaches 89KM/H it will go no faster no matter how hard you step on the gas.

It will increase speed down hill.

What's the configuration of the engine? Looks like it has 2 cylinder heads from that engine pic.

It has individual heads for each cylnder!

Its an in-line 6 not a V8 alas.

Shot was probably taken when idling?

Indeed.

Wrong stance

Looks a proper beast though

Does the corner mirror get annoying when you're driving? I imagine it might be a bit distractikng.

Not sure about the stance mate.

As for the mirror, it only annoys you when your turning in a very tight space & it gets in the way as it sticks out a tad. I've not ripped one off - yet!

Cool pics

At the risk of being run over it's funny that cars get a cup/bottle holder and the truck one is for a 2 litre family bottle

And of course mandatory eating loads of yorkie joke - why do they need air seats - fatties

Truckers need more it seems, the air seat is to stop your back getting smashed to bits by the vibration from the very stiff suspension.

Makes me proud to be Swedish =D

I'm not surprised - if only the British still had such an industry.


I have more pictures, but was too knackered to upload them earlier, I'll do it later when I finish work.

Thanks for the replys.

 

[Scania]

Browsing OcUK in your truck

No mate, alas I have no laptop otherwise I'd never get any work done! - I post from home after I finish my night shift, hence the silly time of day that I post this stuff.

Looks great! Not 100% but I dont think stobarts have their depo here in burton anymore, i didnt even realise they had been taken over!! Looks very impressive and from a vehicle graphics guy the paint/vinyl work looks awesome, I assume its vinyl mate and not painted? Perhaps you could confirm?

Vinyl stickers mate, and, just to confirm, Stobart have bought James Irlam logistics, not the other way around as you seem to think.

And knowing truck drivers it wont be pop they will be storing in there!!!!!!!!!

Was falling asleep after the 3rd photo, is there something particularly special about that lorry or am I mistaking it with ones you see everyday?

Fall asleep? not as bad as doing the same when driving one!
This a truck thread & no, its not much different from the many many trucks on the roads,but its my first chance to get up close & personal with a Scania R series & I thought I'd share it with my friends (& foes) here, it being a Motors forum & all that. - you don't have to read the thread you know!

Can I be a bit cheeky and ask what sort of annual wages you guys are on for driving those things?. Just curious!!!.

I bring home roughly £430 - £500 per wk depending on hours & days worked.

That last pic, was it taken at a tescos site or similar?

Yes mate, Tesco's distribution centre in Weybridge, Surrey. - Just around the corner from the Brooklands museum.

looks nice top pics as well

does it have a/c? whats is that no trailer abs warning all about?

my mate used to drive smaller 12 tonners he said air brakes are awful is this true?

Yes, it has A/C.

The trailer ABS warning is simply a common issue with regard to modern HGV's & older trailers, the ABS control units don't speak to each other properly hence the warning light. The ABS still works however!

Air brakes are great. They can feel awful if a driver forgets to regularly drain any condensation out of the air tanks when the vehicle is cold, if not done, this results in a strong tendency for the brakes to grab sharply, which would go along way to explain his description of awful.

What company made the trailer? As she thinks the small LED light on that could be one of theirs too.

The vast majority of Irlams trailers come from Boalloy in Congleton, Cheshire - Themselves recently bought by somebody closely related to the Stobart group - Edward Stobart !!!

http://www.boalloy.org/

It's interesting to see pictures of a lorry from somone who drives one on a daily basis and hear their opinions, it broadens my knowledge on the matter and I think it makes a nice change on this forum to see something different and I thank R124/LA420 for the interesting insight.

I agree. Many of us will never get to see the inside of one of these things, so I liked reading the thread.

Trucks rock, looks nice and shiney thanks for pics

Cheers guys, I assume this is of interest to some here hence me posting.

 

[Scania]

Just to help gurdas off to sleep completely, here's some more of the piccys I took, including a piccy of the a/c switch!

a/c switch in far right corner, the red button is an anti hi-jack device - it triggers an alarm at the depot that alerts the owners to a problem and allows the truck to be tracked by satellite. In a nutshell, if somebody wants the truck, you hit the button & let them take it, the Police will do the rest.

The vehicles "plate" that gives overall design weight capacity & axle design loads - not the same as the law in a given territory may allow for mind. E.g. the UK weight limit for artics is 44t yet as you can see the Scania has a design weight of 46t.

Outside storage locker.

Smoke alarm & map light.
The alarm is nothing to do with current anti smoking regs, its more to alert the driver if the truck catches fire overnight!

More storage space including....

A little tool kit with spare bulbs - Scania do little touches so well.

Like this, a fold away wallet for your paperwork, built into the dash above the driver.

Foot operated exhaust brake, which on Scanias can be operated automatically with the vehicles main brakes, it activates as you press the pedal, or, you can use the floor button which will still activate the brake lights to warn those behind that you are slowing, something earlier models did not do!

 

[Scania]

Two rather crap pictures, I tried to get my camera to catch the nice green LED's that illuminate the dash, alas, it did not come out as intended.

Another nice touch, the Tachograph tells you when its break time!

Back to earlier comments re the paint, as this picture shows, its just vinyl stickers.

Air suspension controls.

Bunk behind drivers seat, complete with net to store Porn mag , reading light & a remote control for the night heater, door locks, alarm clock & radio.

Yet more storage space above the driver.

Switches for activating the cruise control, lifting axles & load transfer and, the differential locks.

The bunk, with net to stop things falling off if you brake too hard!

 

[Scania]

More storage space, under the bunk this time. n.b. theres a second bunk above.

Switches for automatic exhaust brake (as mentioned earlier), traction control, "White smoke emitter" which seems to do nothing, and a switch to kill the reversing bleeper as they are illegal at night. (Not that I ever bother to turn it off tbh)

Forgot this one, these are the controls for the cruise control and, the trip computer. Mounted at the base of the steering wheel for easy access.

Another pic of the dash area, showing the cruise control etc better than the previous pic!

And two more of the truck itself.

Thats enough piccys for tonight, I'm off to sleep now - hopefully, as soundly as gurdas.

Thanks for viewing.

 

[Scania]

I'm still trying to find out who makes our trailers - apparently because we use so many of them we either own or have an interest in the company that builds them. I think ParcelForce and Royal Mail use the same design:

As far as I'm aware, it will be the Cheshire-based Cartwright Group who build them mate.

http://www.roadtransport.com/Articl...ghts-cheetah-claimed-to-slash-fuel-costs.html

 

[Scania]

Real interesting read. Have you ever seen the program Ice Road Truckers? Get some real interesting views from truckers about their jobs. Also why is it that in the UK all the trucks are "flat faced" (not sure of the proper term) but in US/other countries they are of the design where the engine sticks out infront of the cab? Any benefits/drawbacks of either design??

I watch it quite often.

In a nutshell, the UK style / design of trucks is called "cab over" literally meaning the cab is mounted over the engine.

This is done for reasons of vehicle size, if you have the engine in front of the cab, obviously, the rig will be longer.
UK roads are designed for approx 60ft long Artics, any longer and you simply won't get round 90% of turns that you want to make! - Believe me, with a standard full size UK trailer (45ft) you have very little room for error.

Some people may have noticed Scania did a US style bonneted truck - the "T Cab" - a great piece of kit, looks the job, alas its simply too big to use with a 45ft trailer, which makes it a little pointless.
In the main, they are popular as rigid vehicles, but again, with restrictions on body length due to the extra size of the cab. You do see them pulling 45ft trailers, but, VOSA & the Police would be within their rights to pull the truck as its basically overlength and illegal without an escort - I'll check up properly on this later, I'm literally just out of the door to go drive my cab over for yet another shift!

http://www.scania.co.uk/about_scania/pressreleases/scanias_t-model_says_goodbye.asp

 

[Scania]

Further to my previous post....


Most UK trailers are 45 feet (13.5 meters) long and, dependent on the position of the fifth wheel and kingpin, a coupled tractor unit and trailer will have a combined length of between 50 and 55 feet (15.25 and 16.75 meters). Although the Construction and Use Regulations allow a maximum rigid length of 60 feet (18.2 meters), this combined with a shallow kingpin and fifth wheel set close to the rear of the tractor unit can give an overall length of around 75 feet (22.75 meters), although combinations of this length are usually used only to carry steel or concrete beams. Providing certain requirements are fulfilled, a Special Types General Order (STGO) allows for vehicles of any size or weight to travel on UK roads. However, in practice any such vehicle has to travel by a route authorised by the Department of Transport and move under escort. The escort of abnormal loads in the UK is now predominantly carried out by private companies, but extremely large or heavy loads that require road closures must still be escorted by the police.

 

[Scania]

All very interesting and thanks for sharing the pics. Does anyone else think that your name R124/LA420 reminds them of Rizla and the time 4:20?? Just me then...

How long and how much does it cost to become an HGV driver?
And would you recommend it to someone as a job? Is it possible to do a year or 2 to see how it goes?

LOL interesting take on my username! - It actually refers to my old Scania R124 420 artic. Rizla @ 420 AM sounds interesting mind!

It took me a week to train for my Class 2 (Class C) licence and approx £900 - this was about 12 years ago mind you.

My Class 1 (Class C+E) was paid for by my employers, but usually is circa £1k for decent training - MyClass C+E was taken over two weeks with a re-test after a fail (artics are difficult to master after years in a rigid!) the cost to my employers was considerable.

In return for the C+E licence, I was contracted to work for my then employers for 3 years, had I left in the meantime, I would have had to pay a percentage of the training costs.

Thankfully, in my case, DHL took over the transport contract from my then employers so that went out of the window & I was free to leave & work elsewhere which I did.

Sure you could get your Class C, then the C+E & see what you make of it, but, its quite an outlay for a job that you can handle or can't, its not so much a job, more a way of life.

VERY Long hours !!!

I would advise anybody thinking of this job to give it serious consideration prior to any outlay on training, this job has cost me a marriage & a long term relationship - putting it simply, theres little time left for relationships of both friend & family, many truckers find this an issue.

Don't look on it as a job, more a way of life. Its a way of life you will be able to handle or not, many do many don't.

After 12+ years of HGV driving however, I honestly could not envisage myself doing anything else, I came off the road a few years ago and worked in an office as a transport supervisor, in charge of 30+ drivers. I stuck it for a month & went back on the road - more money, less stress.

 

[Scania]

im sure ive seen that truck before near thurock services...?

oh and......

<truck spotter>

EDDIE!!!!!

</truck spotter>

Truckers asleep at services? -Never!

LOL, I found to my surprise, the other night in the "Stobart" truck, lots of people peeped & waved! - about 20! We do get a few "Irlam Spotters" but I did not realise just how many Eddie Spotters are out there in the middle of the night!

R124, sure i passed you today, Identical truck and PX08 Plate.

Between J14 and J13 on the M6 about quarter to 6ish?

I was in the 740 estate and my mate behind in a silver z3.

Not me mate, but it would have almost certainly been one our the lads based @ Stoke though, as I am.

I rarely get the same truck twice alas, today, it was another DAF (I started @ 2PM and was on the M6, but not at that time.)

there's approx 20 PX08 Scanias at Stoke now, more to follow.

Saw an R series weaving about the inside lane today on the A826 from fife....looked like he fell asleep or something. Nobody would overtake! Then he random.....swerved sharply into the next lane to overtake and back into his lane again. Random as **** and rather scary.

Highland haulage for the lose!

(although unsurprising tbh) - That does sound like the actions of a driver that's far from alert....

 

[Scania]

Also noticed two asda arctics parked up on the hard shoulder within a mile or two of each other. Are you allowed to randomly take brakes on the hard shoulder?

No, absolutely not - its the most dangerous place to be on a Motorway!

One may have had some problem & the other stopped to help, tbh he'd have been far better carrying on & letting his mate call out professionals rather than risk himself on the hard shoulder.

I know of more than a few drivers that have killed or been killed on the hard shoulder.

No excuse for two of them stopping really unless ,perhaps, both had run over the same thing and had punctures in which case they probably had to stop - I say probably as the last time I had a blow out, I crawled the truck 4 miles to the next services to get the thing off the motorway, otherwise, as the tyre was on my off side, the Police would have had to come & close a lane for the tyre fitter etc.

 

[Scania]

Do you get any Kenworths up your way? Im guessing no

A few found with fairgrounds, and many found near the USAF Airbases over here.


Loving the picture of the overtaking Roadtrain with the word "Safety" on the side of one of the trailers!

out of curiosity, how many gears does that thing have?

14 - 12 forward 2 reverse (The Scania that is)

So long do you reckon it will be before the 08 units have a few scars, fag burns in the seats, broken mirrors, and missing smoke detectors?

Already work in progress, trust me.

After driving one of each for the last seven years, you're wrong.

LOL, so true.

 

[Scania]

He's a lorry driver, they don't get lost

Oh, I do. I just let my map reading skills fail me rather than trust a Sat-nav that tells you to drive into rivers etc.

CB's are crap tbh.

 

[Scania]

I'm with you, sat-navs are not as good in some cases than a map, much prefer a map when I am on holiday somewhere new in the UK, nothing like getting lost and trying to figure out where you are, usually causing a ruccus with the missus

I thought all truckers had a CB radio


One more thing, have you ever rung up Sally Traffic??

Most foreign truckers who get stuck down country lanes etc are usually following blindly, their sat navs, I never wish to fall into this category.

A simple road atlas gives you a far better idea as to a routes suitability for a 44 tonner.

Not many trucks have CB's these days, those that do have had them fitted by the driver.

Alas in this day & age you run the risk of being done for not being in full control of your vehicle if Mr Plod sees you on a CB, in the few occasions I've had a truck with a CB, I've found the airwaves to be full of kids rather than truckers tbh, and those who were truckers would chat about anything but the road ahead!

Alas, its a far cry from the image portrayed by "Convoy".

Sally Traffic is behind the times with regard to traffic reports, I find Radio 5's reports to be FAR more accurate & up to date.

 

[Scania]

Cool!

I Never listen to Radio5,


You mentioned an exhaust brake earlier, what is that? Wikipedia didn't really give a great description of it....

Heavy goods vehicles can often require increased braking, in situations where friction brakes could overheat and fail. This is achieved by using an exhaust brake.

An exhaust brake works by restricting the flow of exhaust gases through the engine.

It achieves this by closing a butterfly valve located in the exhaust manifold. This maintains high pressures in the exhaust manifold, and the engine cylinders, which in turn, acts as a brake against the engine rotating. This then slows the road wheels through the transmission, or power train.

Other heavy goods vehicles use an engine brake that operates by altering valve timing, and stopping fuel being injected into the engine.

Since diesel engines lack an intake manifold, there is no intake vacuum when the engine is not fueling. The intake vacuum create the slowing effect felt in petrol engines when they are going down a hill with the foot off the gas. Many different strategies are used on diesels, the least expensive (and also one of the least powerful) of which is the exhaust brake.

The brakes vary in design, but essentially operate by closing off the exhaust path from the engine, causing the exhaust gasses to be compressed in the exhaust manifold, and in the cylinder. Since the exhaust is being compressed, and there is no fuel being applied, the engine works backwards, slowing down the vehicle. The amount of negative torque generated is usually directly proportional to the back pressure of the engine.

 

[Scania]

I find Sally Traffic pretty good myself

Never been with her, so I would not know.

Right, off to work for me!