The Erewash Equation
Trucking|June 2018

It’s an all-Swedish 13-litre, 500 bhp, big-cab conundrum: Scania’s S500 skyscraper versus Volvo’s formidable FH! We head to Erewash Commercials to find out which is best for its operation

Dougie Ranking
The Erewash Equation
Scania and Volvo going head-to-head with a pair of near identically spec’d trucks. Good, isn’t it? It’s one of the world’s great rivalries, like Barcelona V Real Madrid or Tennants Super V Carlsberg Special. These days, if it’s not power outputs, it’s electronic technology that’s in the spotlight. Not forgetting the cab. And those Swedes know a thing or two about cabs, coming over here in the ’60s, making the things out of outlandish materials like metal and fitting them with heaters and beds and radios, gently setting a rolling snowball in motion that would ultimately lead to the end of the British manufacturers.

We’d probably have got really angry about that, if it wasn’t for the fact those clever Swedes really know how to screw a truck together. Back in the late ’60s, a Scania or a Volvo was as alluring and exotic as Britt Ekland (another famous Swedish export).

Powering up

Erewash Commercials’ roots can be traced back to 1969, when Erewash Garage was established. Haulage operations followed in 1974, with plenty of work available at the time for tipper fleets across the region, hauling coal from the collieries to power stations. Erewash remained faithful to British truck brands right until the end, with its last ERF being an 07-plate ECT eight-wheeler (which wasn’t really British at all, and not a patch on its EC models). It then moved onto DAFs, which are of course built in Britain.

Company boss Andrew Smith remembers the old days fondly. “We had trucks running 24-7 a lot of the time, stockpiling coal. It was fantastic work until 1984, the year of the miner’s strike and the decline of the coal industry. We brought in a couple of artics after having made enquiries about hauling bricks, and went from there.” The company continued to haul coal, but as time went on, the work became less and less.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 2018-Ausgabe von Trucking.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 2018-Ausgabe von Trucking.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS TRUCKINGAlle anzeigen
Economic Certainty
Trucking

Economic Certainty

DAF’s HVO-sipping lightweight FTP chassis goes all-out for payload and fuel frugality.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Gold For J Mould
Trucking

Gold For J Mould

The life of the eight-wheeler can be harsh. Trucking went to hear how one Reading operator switched to Renault after a long and tough market-wide evaluation.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Step In The Right Direction
Trucking

Step In The Right Direction

How switching to alternative liquid fuels can help operators put the brakes on HGV emissions.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 2019
Leading By Example
Trucking

Leading By Example

Flogas drives forward carbon reduction with new Bio-LNG powered truck duo.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Trucking

Dearborn To Dagenham

Ford used to be a mainstay of the UK light/medium truck market – and in the 1930s offered three-tonners powered by the legendary Flathead V8.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Cost of traffic to UK business approaches £1bn
Trucking

Cost of traffic to UK business approaches £1bn

Cost of traffic to UK business approaches £1bn

time-read
1 min  |
February 2018
Motward Marks Anniversary With Top-Spec Tribute Truck
Trucking

Motward Marks Anniversary With Top-Spec Tribute Truck

Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire based Motward has celebrated 40 years in business with the purchase of a new Volvo FH16-750 tractor unit, which has become a lasting tribute to the company’s much-loved boss, Jason Tolhurst.

time-read
1 min  |
March 2018
The New Hotel Entrance
Trucking

The New Hotel Entrance

Slippery slope for this driver after his initiative is rewarded with a dose of the white stuff

time-read
4 Minuten  |
March 2018
Trucker Of The Year 2018
Trucking

Trucker Of The Year 2018

In association with Staveley Head, Trucking magazine needs your nominations as we look to crown the country’s best truck driver!

time-read
1 min  |
April 2018
Cat-Astrophe!
Trucking

Cat-Astrophe!

Feline shenanigans with clandestine stowaway of the furry variety

time-read
4 Minuten  |
April 2018