Tomato Plant goes for growth with specialist truck 08 August 2011

Buckinghamshire's newest specialist haulage company has wasted no time in going large, with work at the Download Donington Park and Glastonbury festivals, as well as a movie set, since establishing itself in June 2011.

At the centre of Tomato Plant's operation is an 8x4 Volvo FM 500 Globetrotter truck, mounted with a bespoke plant body and hydraulic beavertail, from Andover Trailers.

In addition to a Fassi crane, the Volvo truck has been fitted with a VBG ball-and-jaw coupling to enable it to operate with an Andover Trailers tri-axle centre-balance drawbar trailer, which helps to maximise the overall vehicle's scope for carrying different payloads.

Keith Williams of Tomato Plant says he visited Andover Trailers in the early stages of forming the company, having seen the quality of an Andover vehicle at a local service station.

"We couldn't have achieved what we have already without a quality flagship vehicle, and the Andover team has really delivered the goods," he states.

"They impressed us with their service from the initial design stages to handing over the vehicle, and we absolutely intend to do business with them again, as we continue to grow."

The plant body, which measures 7.9m by 2.5m, has been fitted with a remote-control winch, hardwood floor, fuel-saving fold-forward ramps and five pairs of lashing points, to secure any combination of loads.

It also features telescopic legs to provide a steady platform during loading and unloading of heavy equipment.

Tomato Plant's new truck will operate with the 6m x 2.5m tri-axle drawbar trailer, also with rear beavertail.

Andover has shaped the front of the drawbar to allow ramps leading onto the plant body to lock into place, enabling easy through-loading, without having to detach the trailer. It also features Granning axles and air suspension, together with powerful EBS brakes.

Author
John Challen

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