 Dawsonrentals? managing director, Stephen Miller Dawsonrentals’ managing director, Stephen Miller, says, “We have watched the positive development of MAN trucks over the past few years and have been further encouraged by recent impressive road test reports in the press. We are very sure that EGR is the simplest way forward for our customers, and the MAN TGA seems to be a leading example of the technology. We do not believe the majority our customers will want to add the complexity and cost of AdBlue to their operation of our trucks, and, on top of that, the MAN TGA seems more than capable of delivering added fuel economy. “A company our size will always have to have some SCR trucks to offer customers who may have a specific need of a particular marque, but, right now, so long as MAN customer support is as good as we believe it to be, we see EGR as the way forward. That support really will be key though; our customers don’t expect our trucks to be stuck in garages without very good cause.” These are the first MAN trucks to enter service with Dawsonrentals truck and trailer fleet, which now exceeds 8500. Maintenance support is controlled 24 hours a day, throughout the year, by a central team in Milton Keynes. The company uses a team of assessors to monitor all third party and independent workshops supporting its fleet. Stephen Miller readily admits that, like many other major fleets, Dawsonrentals placed huge orders on manufacturers for the last of their Euro 3 trucks, to postpone the costs and management issues of the digital tachograph and Euro 4 compliance. However, he notes that, “The new engine technology is a real issue, whether people are talking openly about it or not; it’s much more important than the digital tachograph issue. We have been picking up a lot of resistance to the AdBlue/SCR approach, so this initial order is our first response to what seems to be a growing customer preference. We will be looking to buy at least another 500 trucks in 2007, so we will be watching the MAN TGA performance very closely.
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