Category Archives: Scania

SCOOP: Scania Sauna Series

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Scania has launched its Sauna-Series cab, which has been specially designed to help drivers reduce their stress and improve their wellbeing on the road.
Available only on the S-Series vehicles, this edition includes a cab size sauna perfect for relaxing and taking the stress away.
Research carried out by Scania’s renowned Fiktiva department found that if a driver used the sauna for 45 minutes a day, they would sweat their problems away.
Vera Havinnuon, Head of Påhittad Technology at Scania AF, said: “We’ve been foolish not to focus on improving driver wellbeing. Some spend most of their week in the cab, so we’ve brought them some home comforts to improve their time on the road.
“After years of research and development, this was the most logical answer. The Sauna- Series is easy to use, perfect in all conditions, simple to maintain, and best of all, has a host of health benefits. All-in-all the project was no sweat for us.”
Research and testing showed that drivers who used the sauna were more productive than their other counterparts, with drivers claiming they could drive for an additional 4.5 hours a day – ‘no sweat’.
Each Sauna-Series truck comes equipped with an infrared heat cabin, designed to use minimal energy to heat up and doesn’t require extraction fans to remove steam. It means you can enjoy the sauna while watching TV, reading a book, doing admin or while having a nap.
To complement the Sauna-Series, Scania has produced a set of matching accessories to help you complete your look. Including a luxury, handcrafted set of towels and matching bathmat, which has been designed to absorb as much moisture as possible.


The first 250 people to register their interest in the Scania Sauna-Series will receive a luxury bathmat for free. It usually retails at £2,304.01.
Register your interest here: https://I www.scania.com/uk/en/home/products/trucks/sauna- series.html 😂

Merry Christmas Bloggers!!

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Re-Post: Centurion List – The Final 4

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J727 TRO – 113M 360
J606 UOE – 113M 360
J5 LOS – 143M 500
J949 EDS – 113M 400

So what will come first 100 trucks on the list or a publisher??!

In the mean time we are now down to 4 confirmed Centurions we don’t have numbers for and amazing we have 4 empty spaces on the Centurion list. Is it a coincidence or have RP and myself (and all our informants) just about got 96 other trucks right?! Well there is a good chance as all the others are based on plenty of evidence, each number backed by at least 2-3 facts on the truck.

The above 4 trucks are all genuine Centurions, we know that for sure. Amazing we can’t get anyone with any concrete evidence on what number they were. I have even been having contact from Chris Kelly at Keltruck and even he can’t find any evidence of what number J606 UOE was and he drove it out to eastern Europa on an aid mission!

J727 TRO in Cambrian Pet food livery, but it does look a little tired in that photo.

J606 UOE. Well photographed and was a demo, but what happened to it after? Did it end up with a repaint and on the SEAS fleet after they parted company with #100? Just a thought.

J5 LOS. Perfect looking 143, we know a lot about it and have original photos from the owner before and after sign writing but no number!

J949 EDS. Had quite a few owners including Thomas Douglas Haulage from Glasgow. Still no one knows the number.

The remaining 4 numbers in the Centurion list we can’t allocate to a truck or a reg number are: #037 / #043 / #054 / #068.

No need to go over old ground but if you know anything on these 4 trucks or a Centurion number rings a bell as you’ve seen a certificate from Scania in a transport office, please, please let us know. Comment below or email me; ben@truckblog.co.uk

…..now where the yellow pages…. P for publisher….

TB Hits the Big Time

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Sad times when one of Englands best known hauliers and most followed on social media, calls time and decides to close the gates for the for good. I am pleased to say that it’s due to retirement rather than anything else, although it could be a timely decision the way things are heading at the moment. Hopefully one way or another you have followed Pete White on his trip to Italy and back over the last 8 days, I think I have shared them all on the TB Facebook page. Much like many a transport manager, you might know all the routes, all the deliveries and collections and you might have even done trailer changes in France, but so often transport managers don’t get the opportunity to do a full round trip. Pete White wanted to not be one of those and took the opportunity to do one of the firms last runs to Italy. Great idea. Please read all of the daily updates on the TB Facebook page or the Whites Transport Services page as they are well worth the read. More importantly than all that, Jase who used to drive the red Scania that Pete took on his trip was a lucky recipient of a TB sticker and I was most chuffed to have featured in one of the daily updates this week. As you will see in Pete Whites photo above, the TB sticker has clearly been on the move with one of the best. It’s an honour to have served you Whites Transport and I wish you all well for the future and I wish Ray White a happy and long retirement.

Heinrichs Thermoliner

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It’s a similar colour as the last one I got all gooey about, but look at it…. The Danish Soleen trucks and the VOWA truck from CH, all similar shades but boy does it look good on them. Just incase you think it’s just a Scania thing, then I can prove you it’s not. Take yourself off to the Heinrichs Thermoliner Instagram and you will see it’s suits the flat top DAF just as well. It’s a mega colour.

Once again this truck has it all in a Super subtle way. I almost want to say less is more, although it’s quite close the physically being more than less, know what I mean?! All the custom parts that are currently in fashion are present, not all to my taste, but I can appreciate them 100%. Bull bar, Speedline wheels on the front axle, full chassis infill and tank-look side skirts, Danish square rear lights on both tractor and trailer, 2 series Scania top side lights, double twin air horns, short air deflector kit to allow for a flat panel on the back of the cab and a smart set of exhaust stacks. To finish the complete rig off, the new fashion for your matching trailer – mudguards to match your tractor. Heinrichs Thermoliner have got it all spot on, apart from the spots on the roof. Seems the Europeans still like this fashion trend but I can see it fading out in favour of nothing or something smaller and smarter.

You can see the Scania mud guards on the trailer and they look awesome, this was noted by my truck show wingman James and once he mentioned it, we saw plenty more. Full infill round the trailer with skirts and toolboxes. Finally to finish off the back end, I’m guessing that is a cartoon of Germanys own version of Lisa Kelly, the one and only Frau Heinrichs. Much to James’ disappointment we weren’t able to find Frau while we were round the truck, but it’s her who missed out on him not the other way round!

Everything colour coded.

Another plush master piece from Special Interior, this time in my favourite, dark brown leather. When you stand and look in to these sumptuous cabs, you are greeted by two scents. First is what ever flavour of air fresher the driver has chosen, usually a Poppy type or similar. The second smell for most is the delightful scent of real leather, actually something most factory finished trucks don’t have much of these days. Browns and creams go very well together, complemented by traditional red lighting. The rear cab wall in this one is of course finished off with Frau Heinrichs cartoon embossed with a red back light surround. – think I need a job narrating Master Chef!

A Real Swiss Sweetie

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For me the best in show and I’m glad to say that the people at Truckstar agreed. This Swiss beast was voted best in show by the judges and I couldn’t agree more. There are a good few reasons why I shouldn’t like it, as we all have little things with our taste in trucks that we aren’t that keen on. For example I’m not a fan of gold paint work, I’m also not so keen on additional spot lights or bull bars anymore, but just like Jerry Maguire, this truck had me at hello.

Despite my pet hates, I think I’d only need to remove the 7 spot lights on the roof, the rest just works. Nestled between Paul Cecil’s jaw dropping XF and matching Schmitz trailer and the crazy artwork on Ristina’s latest Scania offering, this Swiss gem appeared like an oasis in the desert.

Oh what’s this…. Ooooo it likes quite tidy this James….. Oh crikey, I think I like the look of this…. This could be my best in show…. And the interior…… And it’s an R cab…. This is my best in show.

That’s pretty well how things went when we came across it at Assen. When it comes to the new Scania, I’m an R cab man, you all know I love the smaller cabbed trucks, the R for me is far better looking than an S cab Scania. There were a few trucks with Speedline super singles on the front axle and I really like it, a trend started years ago by the Prince of Somerset Tim Rigby. I also absolutely appreciated the gear shift pattern being the focus for the LED lighting above the bunk and also on the pa em on the rear of the cab between the stacks. I feel this is a real ode to the demise of the manual gearbox. Those new to driving but are real drivers at heart, there is nothing more secretly satisfying than getting the gearbox working and making your way up through the box all of your own doing. This is pre-mortem tribute to the no doubt soon to be obsolete mechanical masterpiece that is a multi-geared gearbox.

This burgundy, antique red, colour touched me in more ways than a 1980’s TV presenter. The Heinrich’s frigo and the Dansk Soleen trucks all wearing g a similar shade, just suit the truck. I can’t say if it suits all trucks as sometimes paint colours only work on certain trucks but it c retail y works on Scania’s. The different shades of deep red, gold and black also used compliment each other and go with the theory of top paint jobs need 3 colours to really stand out from the crowd. even the red rear wheels on the twin tag fit in with the rest, big bumper, square lights, good size straight stacks, just enough lights, full flat metal chassis infill and side skirts, I can’t go on otherwise I’ll need a moment.

QJust when I’ve had a full walk around the outside and just about stopped dribbling, I get to the drivers door and boom, the pink, salmon pink, bubblegum pink, who knows what colour pink but I love it. James and I can fully appreciate trucks and lairy interiors, although often they would not be our personal choice. I love the deep brown leather interiors again like the Heinrich’s truck, but once again this just works for me. I’d not have chosen it myself but I love it. It’s just sumptuously gorgeous and one step to the left of the custom truck normal. Special Interior have just raised the bar another notch.

I genuinely can’t say any more about this truck, I just hope it has a well matched trailer doing what ever work it does. If I wanted to build a custom truck I think I could just be a carbon copy of this Swiss sweetie. As we all know the Swiss are the kings and queens of sweet treats and chocolate and this truck sits perfectly in that bracket……. I’m off to have a word with myself.

Scottish Snow Plough Part 2

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A relative lay in on Wednesday 30th March, up and onto the Northlink Ferry for 0815hrs ready for an 0845hrs departure and a steady and pretty calm crossing to Stromness, as you can imagine in the winter in can get a little blowy and fairly choppy but no issues for our seasoned owner drivers. actually the only complaint was they didn’t chain Van der Nunn down at the front, which meant he could have left his bull bar on for the trip, image is everything!

Once onto mainland Orkney, it was a steady trip across the island, through Kirkwall town and out the other side. Kirkwall airport is situated to the east of the town. On arrival at the airport the trucks were asked to unload near the airport equipment sheds where the current snow equipment is housed. As you can see their is quite change is the vehicles, the old Fodens and Mercedes have given near on 30 years service, they must have seen some weather in that time! Our intrepid explorers were told that the old trucks are being auctioned off, but sadly I’ve not managed to find them listed anywhere. I’d be keen to know what they go for, if anyone can shed any light??

Through my work, we did learn that only once the airport staff started to put the new equipment in its new home, did they realise that the new trucks were too tall for the shed that’s housed the old trucks. The new truck is lower than the height limit given in the tender, so I’m guessing someone at the airport needs a new tape measure as well as a new snow plough!

Empty and ready to roll by 1530hrs it gave the drivers a bit of time for a drive around as the ferry doesn’t sail back to Scrabster until 1645hrs. Of course there is always time for a photo opportunity and I have to say the pilot of S60 EGN is getting the hang of photos…..

Down into the depths and back on board for the 90 minute cruise back to Scrabster. An almost empty boat meant there was time to take in the amazing g views and coastlines, such as the Old Man of Hoy. Once back on the mainland our pair headed south for reloads not a lot coming out of Scotland at the moment. MWT had an over height, open top container pick up on the wafer deck and Tony was empty back to Hull for a load of tractors.

The second snowplough has already been delivered to Inverness Airport, this coming week the truck for the Shetland Isles leaves Suffolk so that should be another blog in a few weeks time.

Scottish Snow Plough Part 1

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When anything logistics wise comes up at work, it usually comes my way to help or advise or even to sort out. So when the conversation comes about on getting four big 4×4 snowploughs plus equipment to various destinations in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, I have to say I was a little unsure how things would pan out. I really needn’t have worried as top owner driver Mike Tasker, MW Tasker Haulage, was already on the case backed up by probably the best abnormal load company in the UK, HC Wilson Transport. The first of the four snowploughs was destined for Kirkwall Airport in the Orkney Isles, in the north of Scotland. Tasker was already employed to do the job of bringing the trucks and ancillary equipment from southern Germany to Barnsley. The ancillary equipment consists of a full 13.6m flatbed load, so essentially it’s a two truck job. My involvement originally started with the leg from Barnsley, north.

Two loads you’re thinking and Tasker is on wafer bed duties, who’s on the flat bed?? Yep you guessed it, the man who operates Mike Tasker’s last truck, the one and only Tony Nunn, Van Der Nunn, Twin Tag Tony, the owner driver of EGN Transport fame, yep you all know him. V.d. Nunn has subbed for HC Wilson himself in various capacities as long as I’ve known him and has always been as professional as anyone else on the Wilson fleet, Tony certainly isn’t just about the tyre shine, he can walk the walk as well. So the ancillary parts were loaded on a flat bed in Wilson’s yard, Tony collected that and met Mike, who had gone ahead with the wafer bed. Both drivers met in Barnsley to load the truck, Tony helping Mike with the job in hand. Once loaded, both black trucks, with red trailers and yellow loads, started the drive north towards Scrabster for the ferry to Orkney.

Leaving Barnsley on a Monday lunchtime a few weeks back, the owner driver duo made it as far as Berwick Harbour for the first nights stop. An early start (0400hrs) on the Tuesday saw the pair carry on up the A1 to Edinburgh and then onwards to the A9. For those who haven’t been there, the A9 snakes it’s way all the way up the east side of Scotland from Sterling/Perth all the way up to Thurso on the north coast, it’s worth putting on your list of roads to drive, especially in the late spring as the colours are changing and the snow is only on the mountain tops!

Both the photos above and below are on the A9, you can see just how beautiful it is. The photo below was taken just north of a town called Latherton, where you turn left off the A9, onto the A9 to carry on still further north.

Tuesday was a long day, the pair ended up with a very well earned evening off and some very pleasant parking in the coastal town of Thurso, just a couple of miles from Scrabster and the ferry to Orkney.

Not such an early start on the Wednesday morning, as the mini convoy only need to travel the couple of miles to Scrabster harbour to meet the Northlink Ferry to Stromness in Orkney, that sailed at 0845hrs. A very empty harbour looking at the photos, not quite the hustle and bustle of the ports on the opposite end of the country! Part 2 of the trip on Orkney to delivery will follow in a few days time. Thanks to both Mike and Tony for the regular photos and updates during the trip, #twintaggingalong etc.

Manton European Freezer Freight Part 12

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Here we go again! K414 KNW must want me to own her I reckon. I spotted this truck way back in the 1990’s in Braintree (not Spain!). As a lad she caught my eye and looking at the photo above you can see why, perfect looking motor in my book. See my original post from 2011 by clicking HERE.

After I posted my original blog, I had loads of feedback and ended up with a load of photos from Rich Tilford. Rich used to paint Manton’s new vehicles when they arrived, in the companies infamous yellow and green livery. It just so happens that Manton bought this truck either as an ex demo or second hand – would be good to have this clarified just because please. As it needed a full paint job, Rich’s steady hand was used and you can see above and below the before and after photos, good job Rich!.

Then recently my photo was shared on another Facebook group saying the photo was taken in Spain. To be fair I wish I had been in Spain rather than an industrial estate in Braintree, but not sure my BMX would have got me that far. Sparing any names for the embarrassment, i put said person correct and as with most good truckers, there was a fair bit of banter and mickey taking and it turns out we all agreed it was Braintree. bearing in mind the photo was the 1990’s, I would have thought the beloved K414 KNW may have been long consigned to the scrap heap or a life in the Middle East. Please prepare yourselves for further posts on this “never say die” truck as it has been bought and rescued by well known Suffolk haulier, Matt Gregory Transport Ltd. Matt commented on the Facebook post saying, not to worry she has been saved and will be returned to her former glory. Not only that, she had been sitting 8 miles from my office until Matt found her. Now wouldn’t it be cool to have her back in Rich Tilfords paint shop and returned to the green and yellow! That said she will look awesome in MGT’s resplendent shade of yellow, so she will once again be a very eye catching, stand out the crowd truck. I’m already looking forward to the next lot of Manton info and the update on the restoration process.