Recycling business Preston Plastics has taken delivery of a Euro 6 Volvo FM 8x2, the latest of three high-spec Volvos it has acquired as part of its investment programme.
Preston Plastics' director Edgar Wallace explains that its other new trucks were a Euro 6 FH tractor unit and a Euro 5 Volvo FM 8x4 rigid.
All were supplied by dealer Thomas Hardie Commercials, which also carries out maintenance at weekends under a Volvo Gold repair and maintenance contract.
Wallace says the new Volvo FM 8x2 was specified for its flexibility. The air-suspended, tag-axle vehicle is powered by the 13-litre, D13K-420, Euro 6 engine, rated at 420bhp and mated to an I-Shift automated transmission.
The new FM's chassis has also been factory-fitted with a VBG drawbar coupling, together with preparation for air and electrics, so it can be used to boost the firm's general transport capacity.
"We operate 24/7 and export 60% of the company's production to Europe," explains Wallace. "Thomas Hardie Commercials and Volvo have supplied us with what is effectively a total transport solution comprising vehicles specified precisely to our needs."
The company specialises in recycling polypropylene. It collects production scrap and waste from industrial companies and printers, and processes 300 tonnes each week, turning the waste into pellets for European automotive companies.
Both Preston Plastics' Volvo FMs collect 30 cubic metre skips of plastic production scrap. Its latest FM is already returning 9.3mpg, says Wallace – comparable with his Euro 5 FM.
