English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 5 - 2018 | Page 28
GIANTS ON THE ROAD
Holtrop-van der Vlist
TO STAND STILL
IS TO GO BACK
IN THE WORKSHOP OF HOLTROP-VAN DER VLIST IN ASSEN HANGS A PLANNING BOARD. IT
SHOWS A LONG LIST OF TRUCKS AND TRAILERS THAT HAVE TO COME DURING THE WEEKEND
FOR INSPECTION OR MAINTENANCE. TECHNICAL MANAGER PETER VOS HAS BEEN WITH
HOLTROP-VAN DER VLIST FOR 24 YEARS ALREADY. DURING THOSE YEARS HE HAS FURTHER
PERFECTED THEIR MAINTENANCE SYSTEM.
HOLTROP - VAN DER VLIST
Peter Vos: “Holtrop-van der Vlist, part of Van der Vlist Group, was
established in 1984 and the fleet consisted of just a handful of trucks. For
the Van der Vlist organisation, ‘Assen’ was an important support centre
in the north of the Netherlands. In those days the Dutch army was an
important customer. When I started out in 1994 as a mechanic in the
workshop, our 13th truck had just been delivered. During the past few
years we specialised in the transport of machinery for the construction
industry. We now have 90 trucks on the road and even more trailers,
nearly of all them supplied by Nooteboom.”
MULTIFUNCTIONAL
Peter: “Nooteboom really listens to what we, as customers, require so
that in collaboration with us they build trailers that enable us to trans-
port as great a variety and types of machinery as possible. And once we
developed the right combination of tractor and trailer we buy a number
of combinations with exactly the same axle distance. In several countries,
such as Germany, this is an advantage when applying for exemptions. We
almost exclusively drive with Scania tractors and Nooteboom trailers.
That makes life easier for the workshop. The technology is familiar and
we can limit our parts stock.”
DOWNTIME
Peter: “The machines we transport often have to be delivered somewhere
exactly on time. In a seaport construction machinery are unloaded or
they are being shipped to another continent. A seagoing ship is not going
to wait. And if we don’t arrive on time at a building site, an entire project
could come to a standstill. Loading and unloading on time is therefore
the most important task for our drivers and planners. In order to avoid
any unplanned downtime we inspect our trucks and trailers every few
weeks and preventively replace parts such as the turbo, dynamo and
wheel bearings. Occasionally a combination will experience problems
somewhere on the way. Complex technology is involved after all. When
that happens we prefer to set off in our own service bus. Waiting for a
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truck dealer – especially if it’s in
the middle of the night – doesn’t
suit us.”
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Peter: “We inspect more than thirty
combinations every week. We have
a maintenance schedule and the
driver has to make a list of points
he noticed on the way. Low-loaders
are inspected every fortnight and
semi low-loaders every three
weeks. We work with a fixed list of
parts that are replaced preventively.
■ Peter Vos
This is different for each brand.
For instance, we have found that
the wheel bearings of different axle brands have a different life too. We
replace a turbo after 500,000 km and by then the dynamo is also ready
to be replaced. After five years it’s the turn of the trailers’ wheel bearings
and after eight years the turntables. These are just broad outlines because
in reality we know exactly how long the life is of the various parts and
brands.”
REFURBISHMENT
Peter: “From Monday to Friday morning it is often rather quiet in our
workshop. We prepare as much as we can for the repairs that will be
carried out over the weekend, we equip new trucks and trailers and we
refurbish some of our trailers ourselves. At the moment we are refur-
bishing an 11-year old Nooteboom EURO-PX low-loader. This involves
fitting many new parts, including new axles. After this refurbishment
the low-loader is good for another five years on the road. In five years’
time the next preventive replacement of the wheel bearings will be due
and then the time has come to sell the trailer. There is a separate story at-
tached to this low-loader: at the time we asked to have the air reservoirs