Stokey, of Albrighton, near Wolverhampton, took its first delivery of three Tier IIIb-compliant Bell B40D trucks at the end of 2011, and has since purchased six more B40Ds to add to its 30-plus fleet of trucks, loaders, excavators and dozers.
The latest delivery signifies a growing preference among Stokey customers to operate Bell trucks due to their superior fuel efficiency over other manufacturers’ machines, according to Stokey director Stewart Cox.
“Fuel consumption is extremely important, and our customers specify Bell trucks because of their fuel consumption,” said Mr Cox. “Fuel consumption is especially important where the muck shifting work is heavy going,” he said. “And the other ADTs we’ve used in those conditions burn much more fuel.”
Cox said that the Bell ADTs were burning between four and eight litres per hour less fuel than the rival trucks, and that Bell’s advanced in-built GPS-based Fleetmatic management software was a huge benefit in terms of accurate data gathering.
He added: “I’m very pleased with the overall performance and reliability of the Bell ADTs. And the Fleetmatic system is extremely useful for gauging productivity on both our customers’ contracts and our own.”
The Bell ADTs have worked on a variety of contracts over the past few months, including an open-cast coal operation in Scotland, rock pit in north Wales, a landfill site in Oxfordshire, sand and gravel quarry sites and general muck-shifting work.
The manufacturer cites recent independent tests run on simulated quarry conditions at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire. These indicated that the Bell B30D truck was 17.6% more fuel efficient than the equivalent model from a market-leading rival manufacturer.
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