Plant hire and sales specialist Ardent Hire recently purchased 20 new Volvo FH 500 6x2 tractor units as part of a large fleet upgrade. The firm chose the FH 500 for its comfort and reliability. The Volvo trucks arrived at Ardent Hire’s Felixstowe depot and from there headed out on routes across the UK.
The new FH 500s replace 20 older Volvo trucks in Ardent Hire’s fleet of 50. The new trucks will cover around 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) each year and will be joined by 12 Volvo FMX 8x2 rigids later this year.
“We have been long-term admirers of the Volvo product, having run its trucks for a number of years now,” says Gareth Clements, group operations director at Ardent Hire. “The FH is ideally suited to our line of work and, following a thorough procurement process, Volvo Trucks came out on top for us again.”
About The Volvo FH
The FH is powered by a Euro 6-compliant D13K Step E engine, which produces 500 horsepower (368 kilowatts) and 2,500 newton-metres (1,843 pounds-foot) of peak torque. The truck has an automated 12-speed I-Shift transmission, which is a range of automated gearboxes that produces faster, smoother gear shifts. I-Shift also offers a range of software packages to enable operators to tailor the feature to their needs.
The FHs have a high chassis and a heavy-duty bumper made of 3-millimetre (0.12-inch) high-grade steel with a thick polypropylene coating to protect them while hauling heavy plant machinery to construction sites.
“We operate at STGO Category 2 which allows us to run at 65 tonnes, and we have a special construction specification,” says Clements. “These trucks have been carefully built which gives us an end product that we believe is the envy of the industry.”
A Premium Cab
Ardent Hire is busy around the clock. The company distributes and balances its depot stock levels overnight to ensure trucks are ready for customer deliveries and collections during the day. To support drivers while they work, each truck’s Globetrotter cab has the Drive+ package with fully electronic air conditioning with sun, mist, and air quality sensors with carbon filters, an adjustable steering wheel, and an electrically operated interior sun visor.
The back of the cab is fitted with a premium 50-mm (2-in.) mattress topper and a reclining bunk, 245 litres (8.5 cubic feet) of upper storage, and a 33-L (1.16 cu ft) refrigerator freezer mounted beneath the bunk.
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Source: Volvo