Hi to all the Members on TRUCKNETUK.COM.
I’m new to these forums, but have seen that there’s a wealth of experience and knowledge available, that’s why I’m here. We are a new family run haulier, I’m office based, my Dad is on the road and used to be an in house HGV mechanic (10yrs ago).
I have just purchased a DAF XF95 480 '05 Plate, I’ve got a few questions, if anyone can give me some feedback.
- I’ve been told that a 480 does about 7 to 7.5mpg, any thoughts?
- I’m also thinking of getting a 430, I’ve been told that does about 6 to 6.5mpg, again, any thoughts?
- Which would you choose as your standard truck, 430’s or 480’s? 70% of my loads will be 38tonne and over, 30% could be lower.
- I’m doing a 150mile trip a day (75mile loaded [40 tonne-ish] and 75mile empty), how much should this cost diesel-wise @ 118p per litre. At 7mpg I figure about £115, does that seem correct?
Thanks for any answers.
Greenleaf:
Hi to all the Members on TRUCKNETUK.COM.
I’m new to these forums, but have seen that there’s a wealth of experience and knowledge available, that’s why I’m here. We are a new family run haulier, I’m office based, my Dad is on the road and used to be an in house HGV mechanic (10yrs ago).
I have just purchased a DAF XF95 480 '05 Plate, I’ve got a few questions, if anyone can give me some feedback.
- I’ve been told that a 480 does about 7 to 7.5mpg, any thoughts?
- I’m also thinking of getting a 430, I’ve been told that does about 6 to 6.5mpg, again, any thoughts?
- Which would you choose as your standard truck, 430’s or 480’s? 70% of my loads will be 38tonne and over, 30% could be lower.
- I’m doing a 150mile trip a day (75mile loaded [40 tonne-ish] and 75mile empty), how much should this cost diesel-wise @ 118p per litre. At 7mpg I figure about £115, does that seem correct?
Thanks for any answers.
If you do a search on here you will find loads of posts on fuel economy.
There are a lot of factors that affect it as well as weight.
The type of trailer you pull will make a difference a bulk tipper or very high curtainsider container will always cost
The roads you travel, a nice flat motorway journey will be massively more economical than dragging up and down hills on A and B roads.
I’ve only ever run 430s so can’t comment on 480s. Watch the head gaskets and the fuel economy has always dropped with age on all of mine.
you’re best bet is to pm shuttlespanker, http://www.trucknetuk.com/phpBB/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=18287
he runs a fleet of daf xf’s, and he’d be able to answer your question.
Hi i was running a 430 until a few weeks ago and mostly freighted at almost max i was getting high 7’s to middle 8’s most weeks (taking into account i am a flat out and drop the half on the hills guy lol)
cheers
Steve
I run a 53 plate XF95 430 loaded at 40+ ton 75% of time on a mixture of A roads and motorways pulling a 15ft trailer and i average between 7.5 and 8.0mpg hope this helps mate 
i run a 05 plate 480(as tronic) on brick and block work,genrally run at 44t most of the time ,trl not verry aerodynamic,and evn whn empty the hole set up weighs just under 18t, over the whole week it genraly returns between 6.8 and 7 mpg,this is driving it sensibly if i was to rev the guts out of it and tear about every where this goes dwn to 6 mpg,theres not much diference in the secondhand price between a 430 n 480 your probably find most of the 430s are ex fleet moters,theres not a masive differance in the power between the two but your obviously on a long climb the 480 would have the edge,like alredy said head gaskets are common prob most go early so check to see if its been dne,air dryers and apu valves are prone to go aswell,iv run mine for five years,would i buy another one yes
Teh 2003 430 I drive averages high sevens/low eights running multidrop curtainsider work, average trailer height around fourteen foot.
Hope this helps.
I’ve been playing with a 2003 480 this week, it’s 16 speed manual. Onboard computer reads 34l/100km average. 6.91mpg
Average for this week pulling TNT trailers (not much weight at all) has been 30l/100km. That is 7.84mpg.
It spends the rest of the time on general haulage pulling curtainsiders at 14’9 with anything and everything on, but often includes timber running at 44t.
I’ve no complaints with the power on the hills with the 480 it is passing more than it should by rights. Though never driven the 430 to compare.
My average MPG for the last year is 9.3 MPG with my 2003 ‘03’ plate XF 430 space cab. It run on fridges, mainly light ish stuff. I would say 8.5 would be a good average depending on conditions, type of road (city or m/way work), tyre inflation, tracking, gap between cab and trailer.
Even running at full weight with a tipper or potato bulker on she still does 8 mpg.
Check you fuel against your receipt and clock in every time, don’t rely on the dashboard readout.
Hope some of this helps.
I have an XF480 SSC on a 54 plate, I pull a euroliner all the while with a mixture of weights and last years average was 8.4. Last week I was light a fair amount of time and the average for the week was 9.3. I check my fuel after each fill up by pen and paper, so I know my findings are true. The truck computer is always at least .6 mpg above what it should be. When I worked for somebody I had an XF 430 and the fuel returns were about the same.
Are you VAT registered? Most hauliers are, if so your diesel isn’t actually costing 118p but only 100.50p.
Unless your running on a restricted, own account, O license, it would be very cost effective to try to obtain a back load for those 75 empty miles.
At only 150 miles a day, the truck is under ulitilized. Is it not possible to get 2 round trips a day in?
Or maybe it takes a long time to get loaded & tipped?
Your fuel cost calculation based on 118p @ 7mpg is bob on.