Created for highway service provider Ringway Jacobs, this new plastic-bodied tail-lift truck has been designed as a dual-purpose vehicle, both for the installation of a lane closure or for the deployment of temporary traffic lights. The payload capacity enables it to carry twice as much as a typical 3.5t vehicle.
The result is that, according to Acklea, the vehicle can replace multiple 3.5t traffic management vehicles and trailers on typically narrower, slower roads, which will help to reduce congestion in urban and rural areas when essential maintenance is carried out.
A recyclable co-polymer plastic body makes this family of 7.2t vehicles as lightweight as possible and reduces both fuel consumption and emissions.
Acklea says that its modular design can reduce whole life costs by up to 30%. It uses durable, recyclable copolymer plastic means the bodies can be reused with a new chassis and cab. This increases the lifespan of its reusable parts into a second or potentially third life.
The material is lightweight, low maintenance, zero corrosion, heat- and chemical-resistant and also impact-resistant.
The truck is based on the Iveco Daily 7t chassis, with simple, van-like driving controls and a Hi-Matic transmission, and offers an array of health and safety features and innovations to keep employees and other drivers safe at work. These include: Axtec on-board weighing system, Motormax vehicle warning and camera system, Vehicle immobilisation interlock when the tail-lift is not stored securely, LED illumination, non-slip floor, galvanised fall protection rails and powder-coated drop sides.
Clive Brocklehurst, product manager at Acklea, comments: “This new tail-lift design is the first built for use both on and outside the high-speed road network, creating greater flexibility. It makes maintenance and replacement of traffic lights far more efficient and reduces congestion as it requires just this one vehicle rather than several working together.
“The copolymer plastic is lightweight, recyclable and incredibly tough, which reduces downtime and additional repair costs. The vehicles can also be further tailored to match each customer’s individual requirements.”
David Bonehill, head of fleet at Ringway Jacobs, adds: “We needed a new kind of traffic management vehicle for our work on rural and urban roads in Cheshire East, and Acklea has delivered a remarkable unit that is able to replace multiple vehicles. It also means we’re using a bespoke vehicle rather than relying on a traffic management truck built for motorway usage that might not have the right equipment for our needs."