Sherburn Stone upgrades to Mercedes-Benz Axor 32-tonners

Sherburn Stone’s fleet of 26 trucks, most of which are tippers and mixers of various sizes, supply stone, aggregates and various grades of concrete to the construction and civil engineering industry across the north-east. Sherburn Stone has traded up to a pair of new Mercedes-Benz Axor 32-tonners, in response to expanding demand and shifting work patterns that call for higher capacity. Supplied by Gateshead dealer Bell Truck and Van, they have replaced two 26-tonne six-wheelers.

One of the new Axor 3240s is a tipper, its lightweight Aliweld aluminium body giving it a payload comfortably in excess of the 20-tonne ‘benchmark’ for 8x4 operators. The other is a concrete mixer and fitted with an 8m3 Liebherr drum.

“We’ve chosen bigger trucks to cope with increasing calls for heavier work – larger deliveries of stone from our Sherburn Hill quarry and concrete from our own mixing plant,” says Fleet Engineer Billy Fisher.

Mr Fisher continues: “We’ve run Mercedes-Benz trucks before and know them to be tough, reliable performers, with chassis that are well suited to life on quarry roads and construction sites. The deal we secured from Bell Truck and Van was extremely competitive, and the parts prices are excellent value too. We maintain our own trucks in-house and Bells help us to keep things running smoothly by making regular deliveries to our workshops and monitoring our imprest stock levels.

“Last, but not least, our drivers are very happy with their new Axor,” he adds. “The 400hp engines are responsive and flexible, the manual gearboxes that we prefer are simple to operate, and the cabs are comfortable, hard-wearing and easy to clean.”