Scania Complete Hookloader

In many ways, the idea of largely standardised vehicles running on a largely standard transport system is so blindingly obvious that to do any different would appear to be madness. That was certainly a view propounded by the pundits in magazines such as the futuristic Mechanix Illustrated, a pioneering US publication from the 1920s. Back then, its forward-thinking scribes enjoyed nothing more than to muse on the prospect of identikit highways populated by identikit vehicles, (usually with slot-car steering and operated by robots, leaving mom and dad free to sit in the back and eat cookies with the kids!)

Given the magazine had undoubted credibility, (its redoubtable road-tester Tom McCahill, for example, is accredited with conceiving the '0-60 concept still revered by motoring enthusiasts to this day), it’s easy to believe the idea would have gained a certain degree of popular support. But, apart from the States’ block-based road network, Mechanix Illustrated’s dream was – like the unfortunate journal itself (it sank in the ’80s) – a concept ultimately doomed to failure.

In Britain, of course, they wouldn’t even have got a second hearing – after all, here was a nation of fiercely proud individuals who for many years couldn’t even agree among themselves upon how wide apart to space their railway tracks. In fact, despite Parliament passing the Gauge Act in 1845, which settled the argument at 4' 8½", it would take almost a further 50 years for the last of Mr Brunel’s 7' 0¼" broad gauge lines to finally disappear.

So against that kind of background, what chance did we ever stand of developing a standardised vehicular system? The answer, of course, is virtually none.

Looking back, it’s true to say the automotive industry in general – and the truck bodybuilding industry in particular – long prided itself on producing specific solutions to specific problems. In the early days, for instance, vehicle bodies would often be individually constructed, either by the manufacturers themselves or by small local companies, depending on the particular transport task in hand.

As time went by and the market grew, truck manufacturers realised their future lay in volume production. They therefore concentrated on creating global model series, leaving the bodybuilders to take care of the bodywork at a local level, which goes some way to explaining how and why our diverse bodybuilding industry, and all that goes with it, developed.

Scania Pet-reg Tractor Unit

Over the years, the truck manufacturers became larger and fewer in number while the bodybuilding industry remained peppered with many small-to-medium sized operators. It was a formula which in the main served the market well. Efficient truck making backed by a flexible and responsive bodybuilding network proved an effective combination popular with manufacturers, bodybuilders and customers alike. Everyone was happy – well, almost…

“We first began noticing a few cracks appearing in the seams a few years ago in terms of the time it was taking sub-suppliers to fit certain items of equipment to our chassis,” says Scania’s UK Sales Director, Roger McCarthy. “In particular, wet kits were a problem. Work in progress was simply taking too long. Both us and our customers were looking for faster turnaround times.

“So we decided to investigate the possibility of doing it ourselves. One of the greatest advantages Scania has is its modular-build system and our engineers quickly saw the opportunity to incorporate a standardised wet kit into our own factory production system. During 2007 we started fitting our own power take-offs and hydraulics. We also developed a hydraulic tank as an integral part of one of our existing fuel tanks which gave us a competitive advantage in that we could maximise our fuel and hydraulic fluid carrying capacity in a single tank. Today the Scania wet-kit is part of our mainstream product range for six-wheel tractor units, fitted online at the factory and ready to go from day one.

“The wet-kit project is a great success which encouraged us to look at other areas of the market to see where improvements could realistically be made. We saw this as particularly important for the future, bearing in mind the prospect of whole-vehicle type approval becoming a legal requirement in the medium term. Hookloaders and distribution rigids were two areas which immediately fell under our spotlight, given the long lead times our customers were experiencing.

“The majority of hookloaders in service in the UK today are based on 32-tonne eight-wheeler chassis. In terms of their container-handling equipment, the hook and its associated hydraulic control mechanism is a relatively universal and well-established concept. The same goes for the load-bed, container-guides and other items which make up a hookloader.

Factory-prepared chassis

Scania Wet-kit Tractor Unit

“So we began discussions with Multilift, one of the UK’s leading hookloader suppliers, with a view to Scania offering factory-prepared chassis, pre-drilled and fitted with body-brackets, ready to accept its hookloader equipment. As with wet kits, the objective was to minimise the time our chassis would spend at the bodybuilders.

“The concept agreed, our factory now produces a steady stream of chassis which are pre-allocated into our hookloader programme. This has resulted in a significant reduction in delivery times to operators at this end of the supply pipeline and means if a customer needs a vehicle at short notice we can usually help. What’s more, although based upon a standard product, the Scania complete hookloader is offered with a comprehensive range of options that meet the needs of most operators’ operation.

“The Scania complete distribution rigid programme represents our largest venture to date. Here we offer 18- and 26-tonne boxvans and curtainsiders. Our concept is founded on providing optimum load carrying capacity and has been honed and refined through extensive consultations with operators.

“All Scania complete distribution vehicles are constructed entirely to our own designs. In common with the hookloader, all body bracket fitting and pre-drilling takes place at the factory, allowing for final assembly to take place locally by one of our approved bodybuilders. Once again, although we have focused on a fully built-up product, a range of options is offered with all our complete distribution vehicle solutions.

“While I am sure the on-going need for bespoke bodywork and equipment will continue and assure a prosperous future for some of our bodybuilding industry, it’s undoubtedly true that a parallel trend for ready-to-roll commercial vehicles is in the ascendancy today. Therefore, more fully built-up vehicle projects will emerge. Right now, for instance, we are looking to introduce a Scania steel tipper in association with one of the market-leading builders of this type of body.

“With shorter delivery times, Scania build-quality throughout the entire vehicle, a full manufacturer’s warranty administered by us as the sole-supplier and replacement items integrated into our own parts supply system, many customers view complete vehicles from Scania as a very attractive proposition indeed.

“What’s more, the concepts we are putting into practice in the UK are also being implemented by Scania in other countries. In France, for example, they now have a fully built-up fridge vehicle. So I would expect to see ideas shared on an international basis in future.

“That doesn’t mean we’re heading towards the Mechanix Illustrated utopia where we’ll all be able to leave the driving to the robots, but it certainly take us an important step or two along the way towards our goal of providing operators with ever-more efficient total transport solutions!”