Mercedes-Benz dealer wins £3.4 million truck order
Bell Truck & Van to supply 34 Mercedes-Benz Arocs 3240K eight-wheelers to Owen Pugh
THE first vehicles from a £3.4-million order for 34 Mercedes-Benz eight-wheelers are now hard at work in the distinctive colours of North East-based construction and civil engineering firm Owen Pugh.
The deal represents the operator’s biggest single fleet investment and is also a major coup for Mercedes-Benz and supplying dealers Bell Truck and Van.
Most of Owen Pugh’s new Arocs 3240Ks are being fitted with steel tipping bodies by Bolton-based Lancashire Tippers, however the company has ordered three alloy-bodied tippers for delivery towards the end of the year, and will also be taking a hook-loader and a tipper-grab, as well as two trucks with ‘cheese wedge’ plant bodies.
The powerful Mercedes-Benz Arocs is purpose designed and built for construction-related applications. The Owen Pugh vehicles have M ClassicSpace cabs and are powered by state-of-the-art 290kW (394hp) straight-six engines driving through smooth Mercedes PowerShift automated transmissions.
Owen Pugh undertook a comprehensive evaluation exercise involving five other manufacturers before deciding in favour of Bell Truck and Van.
‘We were only running three Mercedes-Benz trucks in the fleet previously, so we had no special loyalty to the brand,’ explained Paul Cockburn, general manager of Owen Pugh & Co Ltd.
‘But Bell’s Arocs demonstrator performed particularly strongly, outshining the competition by a margin. It was half a mile per gallon more fuel efficient than anything else we tried, and was well received by our drivers, who liked the cab layout and high seating position, and preferred the Mercedes-Benz auto transmission to others.
‘The Arocs also offers a highly competitive payload,’ continued Mr Cockburn. ‘We will get a whisker over 18.5 tonnes on the majority of our tippers, which is excellent given their heavy-duty steel bodies.
‘No less importantly,’ he added, ‘we were also highly impressed by the professionalism of the Bell Truck and Van sales team. They took the time to gain a full understanding of our operation, and have delivered a product that meet our needs perfectly.
Owen Pugh’s Arocs are being put to work on several high-profile contracts, including the Morpeth Northern Bypass, where the company is currently undertaking earthworks on behalf of Carillion and transporting aggregates for Tarmac. They will also be used at the Dalton Park shopping centre in Murton, Co. Durham, where Owen Pugh are carrying out excavation and re-composting work for the site’s extension.
Replacing older vehicles which are being stood down from the operator’s fleet of 75 trucks, the new Arocs are the subject of a flexible Agility finance agreement from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
