S. A. Smith’s FH16-660 ‘Swiss Army Knife’

Owner and Director of Heavy Haulage operator S. A. Smith, Stewart Smith favourably compares his latest Volvo FH16-660 double-drive tractor unit to a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for its ability to provide, more often than not, a solution to the challenges faced in this intensive and specialist sector.

“We need to haul at 120 tonnes gross weight all over the UK, from Scotland to Norfolk,” says Stewart, “Our Volvo’s are capable of tackling any job we throw at them. With some of the high-value piling machinery we carry for our customers costing them upwards of £1,500 per hour to hire, we are using the ability of the FH16-660’s to maintain legal road speeds whatever the gradient. In effect, we are making ‘Just in Time’ Heavy Haulage deliveries.”

The Biggleswade, Bedfordshire-based company transports piling equipment on behalf of the construction and civil engineering industries. This can be anything from sheet piling to customer’s geo-drilling machines. Delivery points can vary from motorway and road widening schemes to construction sites in Central London. According to Stewart, the firm services a growing blue chip customer list.

The challenges faced by Heavy Haulage operators like S. A. Smith are varied. For example, turning up 30 minutes early can create severe problems – not least in terms of where to park a 22.5 metre long, 120 tonne artic while waiting for a space on a crowded construction site from which to make the delivery. It is for this reason that S. A. Smith rely on the skill of the company’s drivers, all of whom have years of Heavy Haulage sector experience, and the ability of the FH16’s to deliver ‘Just in Time’.

With such an intensive operation, S. A. Smith depends on a high level of support from the Volvo Dealer Network. All three of their FH16’s were supplied by Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia at Ely. Stewart is pleased with the service the company receives from them. “Although the Volvo’s are reliable, they have good back-up if anything does go wrong. For example, we can call the Volvo Dealer at Ely until 4pm to order what would be a specialist part on other makes of Heavy Hauler and it will be in our yard at 6am the next day.”

The latest FH16-660 to join the fleet is S. A. Smith’s second new Volvo. The first - which went on the road in April 2007 - was an FH16-660 6x4 150 tonner. This was followed by another FH16-660 to the same spec.

Stewart praises Volvo’s ability to manufacture Heavy Haulage trucks saying, “Other makes tend to be specialist machines. Volvo’s Heavy Haulers are factory-built and ready to go to work from day one. You can do a week’s work in an FH16 in comfort. Ours have microwaves, fridges and sound systems built in.”