Tipping up

This has to be one of the smartest tippers on the road; a Kelsa clad Scania R500 XT

- Richard Stanier

Neil Jones is that most satisfying of people to speak to, a man happy in his work. Based in Moel-y Crio in rural Flintshire on the North Wales coast, Neil is the custodian of A.L. Jones & Son, a tipper haulier founded by his father, Aneurin, back in 1968. Now aged 50, Neil remembers Guy Big J, AEC and Foden S80 tippers in the yard before his Dad settled on Foden as his marque of choice throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Sadly, Aneurin suffered a heart attack in 2016 which put paid to his own time behind the wheel, and at 78 years of age he had surely earned a break, but not being the retiring type, Neil tells us that his Dad is still busy about the yard checking tyres and, “greasing anything that moves”.

Following Aneurin’s illness, Neil took up the reins of the business which has seen the steady expansion of the concern from a couple of eight-wheelers to the current fleet of five; four of his favoured Scanias and a solitary Daf CF.

Neil has a long association with Scania having joined Deeside Truck Services from school and being apprenticed to Simon Lee, the current depot manager at the Mold-based dealership.

At 22 and time-served, Neil left the Scania workshops to join his father in the family business which was devoted to Caterpillarpowered Fodens at that time. A 2002 Alpha is especially fondly remembered, “They were a great tipper in their day”, Neil recounts, “Nothing could touch them on tipping work, and the service provided by Finning Caterpillar at Winsford was first class.”

Fond Farewell