IRT DEADLIEST ROADS STAR DRIVES AN FH ON UK'S FRIENDLIEST ROADS
These ‘old, but nonetheless good' FH Globetrotters were originally from the UK and the drivers featured in the series report that they have given great service during filming in the toughest conditions imaginable.
So, when one of the drivers, Texan ‘bad boy' biker GW Boles, made a short stopover in the UK, he asked if he could, by way of comparison, have a test drive of one of the latest FH tractor units.
Volvo Trucks Press Office in the UK were happy to oblige and duly arranged for ‘GW' to drive on the roads around Warwick at the wheel of a fully-freighted FH artic, accompanied by Driver Development team member and press road test co-ordinator Andy Collett.
Despite it being the first time that he had driven on the UK's roads, ‘GW' soon got to grips with the traffic, thanks to the FH's I-Shift automated gearbox.
When asked how the old FHs performed in the IRT Deadliest Roads series, ‘GW' complimented their reliability: "We tried to break them, but they just kept going. Apart from the routine maintenance, all we had was a few air leaks and a broken steering shaft, which it turned out had been previously repaired at the roadside over in Bolivia by somebody welding it together again using a very thin piece of steel plate !"
As a professional driver in his ‘day job' back in Texas, GW Boles drives, by his own admission, ‘a little of everything', delivering sea containers from Galveston to Florida and even as far afield as Canada.
During his time at the wheel of the latest Volvo FH, he expressed considerable interest in the truck's safety features such as Lane Change Assist, I-Roll and I-Shift saying: "I can see where buying one of these new trucks would save a lot of money on maintenance and on fuel too."
Commenting on his trip on UK roads in the Volvo FH, GW Boles said: "I'm usually used to driving on the deadliest roads, so driving in the UK has been one of the nicest possible experiences. The roads here are safe, very clean, the people are very courteous and very friendly. It's something I don't experience, even in the USA. I'm used to the ‘crash and dive' school of driving ! The Volvo is by far the nicest truck I've ever driven. Y'all have a few narrow roads here, but I don't have to worry about falling off a 5,000 foot cliff if I gooff the road. IRT World's Deadliest Roads is the absolute pinnacle of truck driving. If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space !"
