Piping Hot

Pulling pipework to building projects across the country needs a truck with some grunt – and Neil Coward’s Mercedes Benz Actros 530 has plenty

- Dan Parton

For drivers, it’s always a pleasure to be asked by your boss what marque of new truck you would like, but to get more than you expected is something else again. For Neil Coward, a driver at D W Moore Transport in Frome, Somerset, that’s exactly what happened.

It all started early last year. At the time, Neil had a 62-plate Mercedes-Benz Actros 450, which was due to be replaced once it reached the end of its lease. While Neil’s boss, Darren Moore, likes Scanias, he was happy to give Neil his choice of truck.

“I mentioned that at a previous company I had driven a Merc Actros 510 GigaSpace,” he explains.

So Darren Moore from Falcon Vehicle Solutions – yes, same name as Neil’s boss, how weird is that? – who was working with the company, started to look at pricing up the Mercedes. He soon came back and said he couldn’t arrange for a 510 but could give Neil a 480 instead. “I said it was not a problem,” says Neil.

Latest Merc engine

“Then, about half-an-hour later, I was busy in the yard and he said ‘change that, you’re now having a 530’. I was expecting a Volvo or a Scania but he said it was a 530 Mercedes, with one of the latest engines.”

Chuffed at that, Neil then talked with his boss about the extras, which include, among other items, a Kelsa roofbar, Alcoa Dura-Bright wheels and perimeter lights on the rear of the cab. A hydraulic tank has also been added to the back of the cab, enabling Neil to work bulk trailers with, if needed, tipping gear – although he usually has a flatbed, given that his regular cargo is pipework.