Rock and rolling on Humberside with Grant Jewitt and his latest heavy-metal XF
By David Humphries
PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID HUMPHRIES
The last day of November 2014 was yet another milestone in the life of 48-year-old Hull-based truck driver, Grant Jewitt. On a crisp but bright Sunday morning, Grant was at the local DAF dealer – Imperial Commercials on Hedon Road – to take charge of his brand new Euro 6 DAF.
This was the sixth consecutive XF tractor unit he was to own, the first one being a Euro 3-rated 95XF model back in 2002. From day one of getting that first 95, the XF, in all its ongoing incarnations, has always proved to be the complete package which works best for Grant. Not least because Imperial Commercials is also the nominated operating centre where Grant keeps the truck. “It works very well for me,” he says. “The docks are all close by. I can have any servicing conveniently done at night time. And the truck sales manager, Richard Avery, has always looked after me.”
Only once did Grant come close to being tempted away to try another marque. “When Scania moved the bunk in the Topline model to the back of the cab from the previous overhead front position, I thought I’d take a look at a 500 V8. But there were still factors related to the bed that I didn’t like: having to zip up part of the bunk for a night’s sleep, for instance. And when I found out the price quoted was for the basic truck, without any of my listed extras being included, I decided to stay with DAF. For less money, I get a top-of-the range truck every time, with prestige to match.”
Like all the previous DAFs he’s owned, Grant’s latest Euro 6 XF also bears the name of his father’s road haulage company, Stan Jewitt Haulage Ltd.
Trucking readers may recall we featured the operations of the firm in the April 2007 issue, when Grant had just taken delivery of a new XF105 tractor unit. Almost eight years on, things are pretty much the same, with Stan still head of the business centring around hauling timber products arriving at Hull Docks, mainly from Scandinavia and Russia. Grant does the distance work with a tri-axle curtainsider, and Stan stays on the dockside shunting with his 51-plate DAF CF.
As featured in the May 2015 issue of Trucking. Buy the magazine here
