Shipshape On Shap
MAN’s TGS 400 8x2 rigid conversion sports no less than three steering axles and has already proved its worth on bulk milk collection work. John Henderson travels to the north west of England for a demanding initial impressions run over the A6 at once infamous Shap Fell to discover if this truck really has some bottle! IT’S FAIR to say that in Great Britain, most folk take their milk supplies for granted and few pay scant regard to the hard working farmers and collection companies, whose work continues relentlessly on a 24/7 basis, whatever the weather and occasion. Add in the fact that virtually whole industry is controlled by the big supermarkets who dictate the price paid right down the line and it’s easy to see that to survive in this part of the food chain, innovation and efficiency must be the cornerstones of any successful business. Cue in Payne’s Dairies from Boroughbridge, Yorkshire who now operate a brace of MAN TGS 32.400 8x2 6BL tankers. This new milk moving duo started out life as 6x2 rigids and immediately underwent a MAN factory conversion to add an extra front steering axle. The result is a highly flexible collection vehicle that boasts an increased payload of 4,000 and 5,000 litres over previous 6x2 and 6x4 rigids respectively. The 20,000 litre tank fitted to our steed for testing was refurbished and refitted by Sayers Road Tankers and these Munich built chassis cabs, with the ‘M’ day cab as fitted, tip the scales at 8,960kg, offering a 23,040kg potential for body and accompanying payload. Mark Pickering, Payne’s fleet engineer intends to eventually replace the nine remaining six wheeled rigids in his complement with these innovative 8x2s. As this truck was literally straight out of the box, a full Scottish test would not be practical, so I travelled by train down to Lancaster to meet MAN’s driver training and press test manager, John Griffiths for our initial impressions run. Pulling away from the road outside the railway station, it seemed to me I could not have picked a better start point, as some tight, square corners combined with narrow lanes and junctions put the emphasised manoeuvrability of the TGS straight to the test. I initially headed for the industrial area beside the River Lune to take some photographs and was literally astounded at how easily the 8x2, which of course pivots on the third axle, coped with any turn asked of it. The biggest challenge was to trust the truck, whilst not oversteering and I soon became acclimatised to its extensive capabilities as each potential hazard was negotiated without difficulty. Black taxi cabs may still hold the record for the smallest turning circles in the business, but believe me this 400hp MAN is not far behind them! Shunting the truck around for pictures gave me the chance to test the two reverse gears and yes, you can change up or down on the move by using the TipMatic manual over-ride stalk on the right hand side of the steering column. Obviously the rear view mirrors were utilised here too and there’s certainly plenty of lens space on offer, with nearside blind spot areas being well covered. Until mirror arms and lenses are eventually superseded by ‘smart’ CCTV cameras displaying the side and rear perimeters on dash mounted screens, it’s all about a trade off between mirror size and the unseen observational areas they create. I reckon MAN have got about as good a balance as it gets here with these essential visual surveillance units. This riverside stop allowed me closer inspection of the day cab, which is finished to a high standard. The interior looks and feels like a really great place to spend a day’s work and there’s more than enough storage space for paperwork, protective clothing and a host of other gear. The quality of finish on the main controls and switches suggest they will probably never need any attention if used correctly and a low central engine cover permits effortless cross-cab movement. With the digital images then safely stored in my camera, we set off through the town again, heading for junction 34 of the M6 motorway and a run north to Cumbria. My notes from the day indicated the D20 six cylinder engine was completely on top of the job at this type of 32 tonne operation. This Euro 4 power plant currently holds the record for fuel consumption around our Scottish test route and I’ve extolled its many virtues in previous issues of Transport News. True to form the installation in the TGS rigid proved as smooth, quiet and reliable as ever and was never physically stressed throughout our three hour run, even on the larger hill climbs. Cruising up the relatively quiet main thoroughfare, the TipMatic 12 speed automated transmission was barely tasked either and the rear axle ratio of 3.08:1 seemed spot on for this eight wheeler. Our drive was held just 72 hours before 09 registration day and the traffic police were out in force on the overbridge at junction 35 with automatic number plate reading (ANPR) cameras covering all three northbound lanes. Further up at the next intersection, a posse of patrol cars awaited radio instructions from the ANPR reader teams, but thankfully these units must have the ability to recognise trade plates too, as our 09 plated MAN did not draw any attention from these boys in blue. After 30 minutes or so of effortless cruising, I decided that a stiffer challenge was needed for this accomplished milk tanker, so whilst musing some route possibilities over lunch at Westmoreland Services I opted for a southerly run over Shap Fell on the old A6, back to my return journey point at Kendal’s Oxenholme Station. This would indeed be a much more appropriate test for a motor that was due to spend its working life in hilly, rural areas anyway. The short link road west of junction 39 brought us onto the famous route just south of Shap village and from there it’s a relatively good run across open moorland to the 1,397ft summit just south of Packhorse Hill. Running fully loaded with an unbaffled tank full of water for the trial, I had to exercise caution on the corners and slopes with this cargo’s relatively high centre of gravity. Once past the Shap Memorial Stone, the quick descent to Huck’s Bridge over the Borrow Beck begins in earnest and I was anxious to avoid joining the list of causalities that this difficult sector has claimed in years gone by. Good use of the D20’s engine brake and a fair helping of the efficient service air brakes kept everything in check whilst the suspension coped admirably with the momentum surges on the tighter turns. As road tests go, I can’t recall a time when I used the main anchors so plentifully, but nevertheless a figure of 100% was recorded in the notebook to describe overall retardation performance of the all round, disc and calliper types. Travel and bite of the left hand pedal was easy to gauge and always reassuringly swift in effectiveness. It’s been quite a few years since I travelled this route and to be honest I could not remember some of the finer details of it, so the climbs away from the hazard were a unexpectedly good test for the six cylinder EGR unit, which certainly did not need a rest stop at the site of the old Jungle Café. Shortly afterwards, Bannisdale Low Bridge provided another sharp descent and ascent challenge and from then on long runs down through the seemingly endless corners of the Otter and Helm banks pushed the handling of the TGS’ steel/air suspension mix to its limits. This combination managed the many weight transfers, alongside the camber and surface changes superbly and installed a quiet confidence in me, whilst giving the ability to judge the limits of its capabilities quite finely. Never once did the front springs or rear air bags feel out of their depth on what must have been a true baptism of fire for them! Whilst the downhill curves here were not as severe as experienced earlier in the trial, the long carriageway curves did indeed put a focus on finer movements of the TGS’ sturdy steering wheel. It’s a testament of this power assisted unit’s excellence in design and build when it delivers such finite control in literally every circumstance. To say that I was enjoying the drive would perhaps be the understatement of the year and all too soon we reached the 30mph boundary of Kendal, where another fine selection of smallish junctions and lanes kept me on my toes en route to the rail station. I would later discover that my minder for the day, John Griffiths, would face a greater challenge after I ‘abandoned’ in his words, ‘swiftly parked’ in mine the truck outside the Oxenholme halt, as the route exiting from there contained narrow road works, an over platform vehicle bridge with tight 90° approaches and a single track switchback carriageway which further tested both the mettle of this man and his MAN! This trial was certainly not one of the longest drives I’ve had in a truck, but it must rank as one of the most demanding. In particular, the section over Shap Fell brought out the many abilities of this flexible and manoeuvrable 8x2 rigid which must appeal to other specialist operators such as lorry mounted crane operators and plant movers besides others. Certainly in this MAN TGS 400’s intended working life of milk round collections, it’s sure to be the cream of the crop!