Refrigerated truck has all the right ingredients for NHS Trust20 February 2014

Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust has cut costs and carbon emissions by replacing two smaller trucks with one 5-tonne Iveco Daily truck.

The new truck, fitted with refrigerated bodywork by Bevan Group, is used to collect patient meals from a central depot and deliver them to three hospitals and a clinic in the area.

Bevan's temperature-controlled bodies are manufactured to Schmitz Cargobull designs, using its components and materials. Key points include bolted and galvanised sub-frames and Ferroplast panels.

The Trust's vehicle is also fitted with a Carrier Xarios multi-temperature refrigeration unit.

Its previous two vehicles were running at full capacity and, with the larger body, the replacement truck delivers more flexibility, according to transport manager Stephen Billingham.

"The new truck offers a higher payload allowance and Bevan's insulated body is significantly larger, as well as being much more adaptable," says Billingham.

"Each of the bodies on our previous vehicles was split into two, fixed compartments, so we could carry frozen and chilled items at the same time. But the new one has a removable bulkhead, which gives us the flexibility to divide the space or operate at a single temperature."

Author
Laura Cork

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