Scottish fleet is first to add Hyva skip clamp hardware 10 September 2013

Aberdeen-based waste handling firm EIS Waste Services has invested more than £600,000 in its vehicle fleet, with Hyva equipment among its equipment upgrades.

"Our fleet needs to be able to handle any type of payload for any type and size of customer," explains EIS transport manager Raymond Henderson.

"While we have a wide variety of truck chassis, where the hooks and skips are concerned, the bodywork is always Hyva, and it has been for years," he continues – adding: "When product technology moves on, you generally see it on a Hyva first."

This is an issue that the company believes is very relevant now, given that skiploader operators are currently under scrutiny from VOSA over concerns around load security.

As operations manager Colin McDonald puts it: "What it all boils down to is that VOSA now sees the skip itself as a load, even if it – or they – are empty. As such, skips now need to be secured, with any movement on the skiploader's floor prohibited."

McDonald agrees that the industry says such movement doesn't really matter: the skip itself isn't going to go anywhere it shouldn't.

"As an interim measure, all EIS trucks now carry eight and 10 metre straps to keep the various sizes of our containers in place. There's no actual laid-down specification for what we should be doing."

However, EIS is the first operator in the UK to be trialling Hyva's all-new container clamping system on one of its latest skiploaders.

Operated by the driver as an addition to his standard lever-operated control panel, heavy duty clamps move in from the side edges of the skiploader's deck to firmly grip the container being carried.

"We are delighted to be the first operator to evaluate Hyva's latest innovation. If the skip itself is now classified as a load, it would seem that Hyva's system secures it exactly as VOSA would require," states EIS managing director Neil Sharp.

"There's no rule I know of that says loads can only ever be secured from above by straps. Hyva's mechanical clamping system should be greatly superior to straps by being stronger, more robust, quicker and easier to use and, by keeping him off the vehicle, much safer for the driver too," he adds.

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Hyva (UK) Ltd

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