Abel & Cole sees organic growth with Daily chassis cabs15 October 2010

Organic food delivery firm Abel & Cole has replaced 20 five year-old 3.5 tonne Iveco Daily panel vans with new Daily chassis cabs, equipped with custom-built refrigerated bodywork.

Supplied by Iveco dealer Hendy Van & Truck, under a five-year Iveco Elements R&M contract, the vehicles have been optimised for payload and driver accessibility, with flexible shelving and a roof height that allows drivers to stand-up inside.

Ben Reardon, head of logistics at Abel & Cole, reports that the Paneltex bodywork has seen payload increase from 940kg on its earlier vans to 1,100kg on the Daily 35S13 chassis cabs.

"We've standardised on Daily across our fleet, as we feel it offers us the best mix of reliability, durability and whole life cost," comments Reardon.

In a little detail, each vehicle has a cab roof-mounted Hubbard chiller, while vans used outside central London also have an aerofoil to streamline air flow over the cab roof, chiller and bodywork. "The aerofoil adds 60kg, but can deliver fuel economy savings," explains Reardon.

Meanwhile, the power plant is Fiat Powertrain Technologies' new 2.3-litre common rail diesel (126hp between 3,050 and 3,600 rev/min and up to 290Nm between 1,650 and 3,050 rev/min). The vans also have independent front suspension, a very tight turning circle for manoeuvrability and demonstrate good traction via their rear wheel drive.

Incidentally, each was also specified with Iveco's Blue & me Bluetooth connectivity, together with a Cybit Fleet Star satellite tracking system.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Hendy Truck
Hubbard Products Ltd
Iveco

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