FMX drawbars and FH double-drive tractor for Jet Plant 18 January 2013

Two Volvo Globetrotter-cabbed FMX13-460 6x4 drawbar tippers and an FH13-540 6x4 tractor unit are helping road planing contracts specialist Jet Plant Hire deliver a better service.

The Boweld-bodied FMXs, operating at 44 tonnes gcw – so with rear air suspension – deliver Wirtgen road planers to site. Each tipper is then loaded direct from the planer and the scalpings removed for re-use on farms and as substrate for temporary site roads.

"Our customers know us as a premium quality business; that is our approach in everything we do," comments Sean Withefordm, managing director of Jet Plant, which has operating centres in Evesham, Worcestershire and Newton Abbott in Devon.

"That's why we buy Volvo trucks. They're the best quality kit to do the job. We operate quality trucks and facilities to match."

As part of that, all the trucks are on Volvo's Gold Repair and Maintenance contracts, to ensure uptime. Inspections and maintenance are carried out at the Gloucester workshops of the supplying Volvo dealer, Truck and Bus Wales & West.

Jet Plant has prior experience of operating Volvos, it's first having been an FL7-230 six-wheel tipper in 1990, after which it owned several FL10s and FM12s.

After a period away from the marque, Jet Plant began operating Volvos again in 2005 when a 6x4 and an 8x4 FM joined the fleet – its first experience of I-Shift, Volvo's automated gear changing system.

I-Shift sealed the deal, according to Withefordm: "Even the best drivers can't match I-Shift all the time for fuel economy. It levels the fleet average out. Wear and tear is also reduced with clutch replacement times increased to up to four years."

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Boweld Truck Bodies
Volvo Group UK Ltd

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