The Cabs

[veryoldbear]

Every time we come back through Ouistreham there are three or four lorry loads of lorry cabs waiting to load. Where are they going? Where do they come from? Is the UK now full to the gunwales with lorry cabs?

We need to know!

Edited October 31, 2017 by veryoldbear

[richwarwicker]

What brand? Probably manufactured abroad, and shipped To the uk. Mercedes and scania seem to have a good market share over here

[hf_uk]

 I have seen them before. I think they were Scania... 

Scania have a big presence in Dagenham over here - but not sure if they actually assemble anything there....

[Lembyscot]

We used to see these on almost every trip home from Ouistreham, they were DAF and I think the cab units were built in Poland and assembly finished in the UK to meet customer requirements, I hope this helps.

[1kerbut1]

Or if Scania they have a plant in France so maybe replacement cabs for accident damaged cabs.

  In my driving days, we used to load Pegasso cabs in Madrid for Seddon Atkinson , Manchester.

[Cabin-boy]

I doubt they are Scania cabs. I work in their Angers factory three or four days per week and all the cabs for the European market come from their factory in Oskarshamn, Sweden. The company also has a central spare parts warehouse in Belgium so I doubt they would send anything as far west as Ouistreham. If they were cabs mounted on long chassis they could be from the Angers site being taken to a bodybuilder in the UK for conversion to bin-lorries or similar. If they are crew-cabs in red (double doors on both sides and a rear bench seat) then they will be for fire engine conversion (maybe by Dennis) but those models are only made in Sweden due to the weight of the cab and would likely be shipped straight to the UK and not via France. Ed 

[alleeganger10]

We wondered the same thing VOB, after some research  we found the truck cabs are made just up the road from Ouistreham at the Renault  Truck plant at Blainville sur Orne, from where they are  transported to the Daf (Leyland /Paccar) plant in Leyland in the UK.

If you have ever noticed the Cabs are transported by the van Rooyen transport company  from the Netherlands (Original home of Daf)  however many of the vehicles used are registered in Eastern Europe, with presumably drivers from the same.

I can't prove with links what I have stated above but i think i found it out when i saw that the x thousandth truck DAF truck cab had been produced at Blainville, or that the contract to do so had been extended,in the local French Press Probably La Manche Libre or Ouest France Caen.

Confirming this when passing the plant I have seen the loaded Vanrooyen  trucks leaving.

It ALWAYS amazes us that this transport link must be part of the DAF Just In Time assembly process at Leyalnd as they always arrive in Ouistreham after us and our dog, but ALWAYS we pass them in the UK on the way north usually on the A34 but sometimes even on the M40!.

I hope whoever rewards/pays BF for the service the truck bodies receive pays a premium for  this queue busting facility, note  to BF if you have been a customer for 40 years, what rewards do you receive/give ? answer Sweet FA, apart from insult and contempt.

VOB sometimes at Portsmouth you see the same vehicles going the other way, but this time instead of cabs they carry another cab transporter(s) ready to do the same queue jumping trick again.

All this is an illustration of True International trade , and why Brexit is so bad for the UK, Paccar is a USA company,  with an assembly plant in the UK, owning a European Brand, DAF who use/assemble parts  from all over the world to produce a Truck used all over the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crechbleiz]

2 minutes ago, alleeganger10 said:

We wondered the same thing VOB, after some research  we found the truck cabs are made just up the road from Ouistreham at the Renault  Truck plant at Blainville sur Orne, from where they are  transported to the Daf (Leyland /Paccar) plant in Leyland in the UK.

If you have ever noticed the Cabs are transported by the van Rooyen transport company  from the Netherlands (Original home of Daf)  however many of the vehicles used are registered in Eastern Europe, with presumably drivers from the same.

I can't prove with links what I have stated above but i think i found it out when i saw that the x thousandth truck DAF truck cab had been produced at Blainville, or that the contract to do so had been extended,in the local French Press Probably La Manche Libre or Ouest France Caen.

Confirming this when passing the plant I have seen the loaded Vanrooyen  trucks leaving.

It ALWAYS amazes us that this transport link must be part of the DAF Just In Time assembly process at Leyalnd as they always arrive in Ouistreham after us and our dog, but ALWAYS we pass them in the UK on the way north usually on the A34 but sometimes even on the M40!.

I hope whoever rewards/pays BF for the service the truck bodies receive pays a premium for  this queue busting facility, note  to BF if you have been a customer for 40 years, what rewards do you receive/give ? answer Sweet FA, apart from insult and contempt.

VOB sometimes at Portsmouth you see the same vehicles going the other way, but this time instead of cabs they carry another cab transporter(s) ready to do the same queue jumping trick again.

All this is an illustration of True International trade , and why Brexit is so bad for the UK, Paccar is a USA company,  with an assembly plant in the UK, owning a European Brand, DAF who use/assemble parts  from all over the world to produce a Truck used all over the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well spotted. i was about to post about this plant from the Volvo Trucks group. A couple of my fellow students from Polytechnique Nantes are welding engineers in this plant. One of the most important plants in the group.

[alleeganger10]

Thanks Crechbleiz 

 

The Renault Blainville sur Orne entry on Wikepedia also confirms what I have said.

its in French but a link is attached 

https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usine_Renault_Trucks_de_Blainville

[Tumnus2010]

You see many DAF cabs on the Zeebrugge - Hull route too, that probably makes more sense though geographically. Interesting that Renault are part of the equation too. So many companies working together these days!

[hf_uk]

Isn't it possible that there are many different cabs transported? I definitely saw 4 white Scanias... i have a pic somewhere

[Cabin-boy]

It is possible, but Scania cabs transported alone are mounted on metal frames to protect them. These are then put inside closed canvas-side trailers so would not be visible. Therefore they must have been semi - finished trucks destined for the UK market or for conversion in the UK before being shipped on to Australia, New Zealand etc. Ed. 

[hf_uk]

Cheers Cabin-boy.... good info. I suspect I am not the only one taking photos of non-ferry items, such as trucks and cranes when away, ahem