Man Moves Into UK Pet Reg Tractor Rental
The MAN Truck & Bus UK rental fleet is to get its first new tractor unit with petroleum regulations specifications needed for most tanker operations. Many of the UK’s biggest fleets of articulated tankers, including BP, DHL, Sucklings and Hoyer Petrolog, run MAN trucks already. But hitherto if they needed an additional tractor on rental, to cope with a sudden business spike or to replace a vehicle undergoing accident repair, they would turn to independent rental and contract hire companies. MAN Truck & Bus UK sees an opportunity to supply such operators with new trucks to exactly the specification they need on medium-to-long-term rental deals, no shorter than six months.
The first MAN rental pet-reg truck in the UK was on display in Liverpool this week at the annual exhibition run by the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS). It is a Euro-VI TGS 24.440 6×2 (mid-lift) tractor with day cab. Unladen weight is critical for many operators in this sector. This is why the truck is fitted with lightweight Alcoa aluminium alloy wheels and a novel fuel tank.
A 450-litre tank is the norm for many operators using MAN tractors on general operations. But tanker operators tend to favour a smaller tank, 300 litres, to save on unladen weight. This first MAN pet-reg rental tractor has a 450-litre tank but fitted with a restrictor-cum-anti-siphon device, which limits capacity to 300 litres. The idea is that the restrictor can easily be removed if necessary when the truck reaches the end of its life in the rental fleet, probably after about two years. Unladen weight of the 44-tonnes GCW TGS 24.440, complete with 300 litres of fuel, 25 litres of AdBlue, Fontaine single-position fifth-wheel coupling and Gardner Denver Drum Hydrapack hydraulic pumping kit is put at a competitive 7,470kg.
This truck will be used to “test the market” for such rental vehicles, according to Neil Waters, International Key Account Manager for MAN Truck & Bus UK’s northern region. But judging from the positive reaction to it at the FPS show, he expects there soon to be around 10 or 12 such tractors in the company’s Manchester-based rental fleet within the next few months.
