Trucks

VOLVO TRUCKS LEAD BY EXSAMPLE COURIER SERVICES

Baildon, West Yorkshire-based, Exsample Courier Services has put an interestingly specified Volvo FL rigid on the road and the 16-tonner is already delivering increased payloads for the company.
Volvo FL rigid on the road

In 1998 Baildon's Sean Sample had a unique vision for how a road transport company should operate and set up Exsample Courier Services (ECS) to see if he could make it a reality. Now, 20 years on his company is going strong, offering deliveries from its West Yorkshire base in vehicles of all kinds, from small vans up to 44 tonners, with tail-lifts and truck-mounted forklifts. Reviewing his fleet Sean realised there was one small gap in his line-up, however, and it was to Volvo trucks he chose to turn in order to fill it.

"It was time to update one of my 7.5 tonners and I decided to replace it with something a little heavier," Sean explains. "Nowadays 7.5 tonners can't carry the same weight with the more modern technology on them, and I wanted to fill that gap between 7.5 and 18 tonnes too."

After looking at all the various options, Sean was most impressed by the offer from Iain Cass, Regional Sales Manager at Crossroads Truck and Bus Limited in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

"For me Volvo wins on price and reliability. I already run two Volvo FH 6x2 tractors and they're doing really well,"
Sean reports. "I was going to order a 12-tonner, but after talking to Iain we discovered we could up it to 16-tonnes on the same chassis. That would return a much better payload, so we went for it."

An FL516 4x2 with rear air suspension and Volvo's D5K240 engine; Sean's new addition is specified so it can work on air freight contracts as well as distribution work. It has also been fitted with a Hatcher sleeper pod above the day cab and a ROCO curtainside body.

"We don't ever like to say no to a customer, so when we buy a new vehicle we like to cover all options" Sean says.

"Our dealings with Crossroads Truck and Bus Limited have been good so far," Sean declares adding, "So I've taken a four-year Volvo Gold service contract for repair and maintenance out with them too. That way I know my costs are fixed, something I've always liked."

With his new Volvo all set up ready to go, Sean can continue proving his family-run company's motto and showing that there really is ‘a better way of delivering'.

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