Hampshire-based Cosham Plant Hire has added a new Andover Trailers plant body to its fleet, mounted to a 32 tonne Volvo FM420 8×2 rear-steer rigid truck.
The vehicle reportedly features a bespoke plant body with beavertail, incorporating Andover Trailers’ hydraulic fold forward power toe ramps, which are said to improve the vehicle’s aerodynamics and fuel consumption.
“Our previous vehicle had come up for renewal and we had seen a similar vehicle, built by Andover Trailers, being used by another company. The truck was exactly what we were looking for and we decided to order one ourselves,” said Cosham Plant Hire’s Transport Manager, Ken Newell.
The new plant body boasts six pairs of lashing points, an electric winch that can be operated by remote or radio control, red LED lights, amber strobes and hydraulic steady legs.
According to Andover Trailers, the deck height is five inches lower than a regular plant body, which allows for lower ramp and beavertail approach angles, making loading and unloading machinery easier.
“We needed a vehicle which performed well under a range of conditions as it will be used for general access to different types of sites when delivering plant equipment to our customers. With site access becoming tighter and more restricted we needed a reliable and manoeuvrable vehicle and our new plant body ticks all the boxes,” said Newell.
According to Andover Trailers, Cosham Plant Hire plans to keep the vehicle in operation for between six and eight years.