What is said to be ‘the largest mobile shredding truck outside the USA’, and costing in excess of £300,000, has been put on the road with a new DAF CF 310 FAS 6x2 26-tonne rigid by Shred Station. The company, which has BSIA and PCI DSS accreditations and bases in Norwich and Harlow, operates across the UK on high security shredding and disposal work, and has just won a new five-year contract to which the DAF will be dedicated.
The new fleet addition has a Vecoplan mobile shredder and bin lifter, all installed by a bodybuilder in the Netherlands, Transcom, before going out to Germany to be scrutinised and approved by the body designers. Shred Station’s managing director, Simon Franklin, said, “This is now the largest mobile shredding vehicle on the roads outside America. The Americans have been using this type of mobile shredding vehicle for many years, so due to ever increasing demand over here for a smaller shred size and faster throughput we teamed up with Vecoplan and Transcom to bring this to Europe.”
One of some 16 DAF trucks on the FORS Silver standard fleet, the latest addition has a lifting rear axle, specified by Shred Station to reduce tyre wear and aid with manoeuvrability in tight urban and industrial environments. Simon Franklin again, “We already run Goodyear FUELMAX tyres to help keep operating costs down, so the more we can protect them and extend their working life the better the return on our investment.”
Simon Franklin has selected DAF for the Shred Station fleet based on previous experience of the marque. “They are cost-effective, fuel-efficient, reliable trucks, and you don’t get much better than that.” Simon had tried another marque in the past, but said that, while cheaper to buy, they had proved to be ‘an unreliable truck with an even more unreliable dealer’. “DAFs are a very robust and cost effective vehicle,” he said, “we get real value for money and second to none support from both our local dealers Ford & Slater, in Norwich, Harris DAF at Lea Valley, near our Harlow depot and the entire DAF network if we ever need it. Mobile shredders are unique vehicles, you can’t just go out and rent another one if you have a problem on the road, so having DAFaid and the national network to rely on is very reassuring.”
As with any transport business these days, even one as specialised as Shred Station, drivers are an important factor in operational reliability. While some of the larger DAFs run all over the UK, many of Shred Station’s 7.5, 12, 15, 18 and new 26t DAFs will run just an hour or two from their depot and then start the tough shredding work. Whatever the size of DAF, Shred Station reported its drivers were all happy with the comfort and refinement of the DAF cabs.
Fuel, that other major operational factor, was also reported to be good with the fleet. “It isn’t just the fuel consumption associated with travelling to the customer site that is important. In the majority of our vehicles we have on-board shredders that require engine power to drive a built-in PTO, and this is where fuel consumption is also key. It can be very demanding, but DAFs have always had a good reputation for economy and we are very happy with their performances for us.”
