Ty Korrigan

Put them firmly in the "Too fat to fly" list...

I'm due a new truck in 2025 and am looking to escape the 3.5t trap. I run overloaded for about 30min most days and whilst that might not seem much it would salve my conscience to be legal for that short drive. So taking advantage of a rainy day, I visited Man trucks this week. Looked at the 5t tippers they had lined up ready for a telecoms company. They do a 5.5t as well which is weird and I asked the difference between the two. Dealer doesn't know, not sold a 5.5t yet but the price jumps by around 5k These are basically VW Crafters rebranded and also seem similar to the Mercedes Sprinter. Good ground clearance unlike the Isuzu/Fuso trucks, lot's of under seat storage, fancy tablet, reversing camera, tool pod, cone carrier, side tool boxes. 2 litre engine 163hp twin turbo. Any thoughts on these? Waiting on prices now.

In France, the Ford Raptor sells for €45k but has an eco purchase tax of €60k due to it's high CO2 rating. The government has effectively killed large or performance engine ownership for all but the rich.

Does that include vehicles on a lease?

Some close ups of a colleagues chip box on his Fuso. Stainless frame, aluminium sheet and stainless roof flap. Not sure why it's external. Ingenious tool locker security bar that requires the chip box to be lifted slightly for access.

On a brief half term visit to my family in Emsworth. Took a walk with my kids down to the harbour and witnessed this incredible scene. The harbour at times is filled with hundreds of swans which is quite a spectacle but this is something I have never seen. VID_20241030_110636.mp4

I'm trying to find out prices for the intermediate tonnages. When Nissan still imported their little tipper, the 4.5t option was a mere 1500 euros more. Given the 3.5t Fuso is reputed to be the 6t, I would like to know the price difference but the dealers are not interested in telling me. So far, I've a price for a Canter 7.5t chassis cab without tipping unit 53k euro money I think the dealer is taking the piss TBH I could buy a 9t Canter tipper complete from Poland for less. Iveco with tool box and tipping unit I've been verbally told is over 70k Dealers are just weird to deal with here, as though they are not interested in selling a single truck. In the end, I may just go for another 3.5t and helper springs.

If I use the truck for my own work carrying tools and only the waste I generate then no operators licence required 'FIMO' However, if I use it to resell logs or chip then I do need one.

Ford just got back to me but not with a quote. The truck doesn't exist as a stock item anywhere in France and has a delay of 12 months once ordered. So that hash is settled.

I can see me parked in front of the dealers front door, chip box raised whilst shouting "ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE ME A F*****G QUOTE?"

We took the route via Salamanca as it offered more scenic diversions. Sailed from Algeciras. Next time, we'll take far longer about it and properly research places to visit in Spain. It's a jaw dropping country off the beaten track. I also need to take a better gravel bike to Morocco in order to better acomplish my cycling desires.

We drove through Spain on the way to and from Moroccistan this Summer and stayed in Taro, Rioja region on night. It looked the kind of landscape I could live in. I know the Asturias from my youth, several trips cycle camping having taken the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander. The two years of Spanish was written over by French and for a while, when drunk; I confused the two and spoke a weird Euro jibberish, much like I do now on the phone to truck dealers it seems.

So, I called the Ford main dealer in Rennes. Receptionist couldn't understand me and even muttered back that she couldn't (je comprend rien) Eventually she clicked and put me through to a salesman with a mouth half full and the voice and phone manners of a teenager. This oily twunt refused to listen to me and kept insisting that I was wrong and talking about the 3.5t instead. Then he looked on the Ford website just to prove me wrong and had to admit the 5.5t existed but he didn't know anything about it. Promising to send me a devis that I know will never arrive. I might make a personal visit in wet muddy arb boots and stomp moodily around their showroom...

Snatch plot twist...

The Fuso I'm looking at has difflock. Also the Canter comes in a wide cab. Not fussed about in cab storage as any truck I buy will have a tool locker. Infuriating the price difference here between 3.5 and 7t trucks.