Prestons of Potto buys Daf heavyweights
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It was Daf's dependability that led to the company putting a trio of 150-tonne Daf FTT XF95s on the road to move steel girder and prestressed concrete bridge beams to construction sites around the UK.
The trucks run with rear-steer extendable Broshuis trailers or with a steering rear bogie with the front end of the load sitting on a bolster fitted to the fifth wheel.
Managing director David Preston says: 'As well as on the road reliability, we also wanted a tractor that has good traction to cope with the last bit of the journey, where they often run on unsurfaced site roads.
The Daf 95 is a very robust truck and the FTT model has a rugged driveline with a double drive bogie and cross-axle and differential locks that enable it to cope easily with all conditions.
'A large cab was important, too, because many jobs need a two man crew. The amount of space offered by Daf's aptly named Super Space cab is unequalled and my crews find them very comfortable with plenty of space for their personal gear as well as their wet weather clothing and the personal protective equipment they need on site.'
Power for the Dafs is from the 12.6-litre XEC engine delivering 530hp (390 kW) at 1900 rpm and 2350Nm of torque at between 1100 and 1500 rpm. This is matched to a 16 speed ZF 16S221 transmission.
Prestons has taken the Dafs on a five-year lease through Darlington-based Daf dealer Chatfields of Tyne Tees and have extended the first two years of Daf service cover by the addition of a three-year repair and maintenance contract.
STGO operations are just a small part of the work of Richard Preston and Son – or Prestons of Potto, as the company is better known. It runs a general haulage fleet of 220 tractors and 600 trailers based at Potto in Cleveland and at St Neots in Cambridgeshire. It offers transport and distribution services including fully-managed logistics operations using its 450,000sq ft of warehousing.
