IVECO Stralis X-WAY tips the balance for Jeremy Bishop Haulage

Monday 18th January 2021

Totnes, Devon-based Jeremy Bishop Haulage has doubled its IVECO fleet by taking delivery of two Stralis X-WAY 26-tonne 6x4 tippers (AD260X42Z OFF) with Active Day (AD) cabs.

Powered by the Cursor 11 420hp diesel mated to a 12-speed HI-TRONIX automatic transmission, the two 6x4s join the two 480hp CURSOR 11 Stralis X-WAY AD340X48Z OFF 32-tonne 8x4 AD-cab tippers which were delivered to the operator in May.

After first meeting supplying dealer, Hendy Van & Truck in Chandlers Ford, at the Royal Cornwall show, managing director Jeremy Bishop’s drivers spent a week behind the wheel of a Stralis X-WAY 8x4 tipper demonstrator. His team put it through its paces and found it to be tremendously quiet, its off-road grip was first class and the truck’s tight turning circle provided excellent manoeuvrability.

With his trucks travelling along the tight country lanes of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset as well as working off road in quarries, construction and landfill sites, manoeuvrability is key to the operator. Top of its priority list however is payload, which is 15,000kg on the 6x4s, and 19,500kg on the 8x4s, which are both best-in class.

“The X-WAY provides me with more than one tonne extra of payload compared to other tippers. The chassis is strong, and light and our drivers have never been stuck despite the demanding conditions our vehicles constantly find themselves in,” explained Jeremy Bishop, managing director of Jeremy Bishop Haulage.

Jeremy Bishop’s fleet of 18 vehicles spend a high percentage of their lives off road. A journey could start with a tipper collecting waste from a customer demolition or construction site anywhere in the south west and delivering it to the company’s quarry where the aggregate is meticulously recycled and graded ready to resell back to the building trade or direct to consumers. The trucks also make regular trips to landfill sites which in the winter can be slippery and deeply rutted.

Each Stralis X-WAY has therefore been specified with the Off-Road set up which includes uprated front axle and front suspension, higher front ground clearance and a steel bumper.

Jeremy and his son Will started planning the truck fleet renewal process in 2019 after spending close to £2m updating all of their quarrying machinery at the family’s 12-acre Lee Mill quarry.

The trucks have been purchased outright complete with a comprehensive 5-year Elements 3XL Repair & Maintenance contract which covers all maintenance except for tyres. Over a five-year period, the operator anticipates each truck covering in the region of 70,000km per annum

“The repair and maintenance package provides me with extra peace of mind. The trucks work in some challenging environments and I know all I have to budget for over and above the monthly contract is the costs of tyres, fuel and insurance. That makes Total Cost of Ownership budgeting much easier, which is important now the economy has been more unpredictable due to Covid,” said Bishop.

Hendy Van & Truck’s service levels have been a major reason to continue replacing its fleet with IVECO trucks and the closest servicing facility is just a mile away thus keeping vehicle downtime to an absolute minimum.

“The Hendy team is very knowledgeable, but importantly they are genuinely interested in specifying trucks that will help run my business more efficiently. That’s why we went for the 6x4 configuration this time as it enables my drivers to gain access to restricted sites without a problem. We’ve got all avenues covered now with the 6x4 and 8x4 configurations,” he added.

Gareth Lumsdaine, IVECO’s heavy business-line director said: “Generally, when we get a X-WAY tipper into an operator on test for a week or two they normally put it on their choice list due to its total operating costs and generous payload. We are pleased to see Jeremy expanding his fleet with both 6x4s and 8x4s to cover off all requirements for his operation. The Stralis X-WAY is built to do some hard graft and Jeremy’s operation is no exception with the trucks working as much time off road as on road,” he added.

Kent body builder, Charlton Bodies, built the Taperlite steel tipper bodies featuring Edbro tipping gear and an on-board weighing system while each truck has been specified with an automated sheeting system to keep loads in check.