FORS Gold-accredited UK Lift & Haul of Rochford, Essex, has put a new Volvo FH-500 6×2 tractor unit with pusher axle into operation, supplied with a Volvo Gold Service Contract.

Supplied by Ian Reed, Area Sales Manager at Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia, the FH comes with a Volvo D13K engine producing 500bhp and an I-Shift automated transmission system. Alcoa alloy wheels and a Trux bull bar provide smart finishing touches, whilst the driver benefits from a leather-trimmed interior, fridge, microwave, TV and DVD player. Being a FORS Gold operator with a focus on safety sees a FORS 4 camera system, side scan and left turn cycle warnings, warning beacons and strobes, plus light bars, all fitted.

The new vehicle has already gone straight out to work transporting loaded containers nationwide within its side loader division and takes the company’s total haulage fleet to 13 and all, bar three, are Volvo trucks thanks to the owner’s lifelong appreciation of the marque.

Transport Manager, Toby Hoath says his experience as a fitter gave him an unrivalled insight into truck makes and models and he reckons only one marque provides everything he needs. As he says: “I have been with Volvo and brought up with them all my life. The first truck I sat in was a 1983 Y-registered F7, when I was about six years’ old with the old man. As a fitter you tend to know which the best product to buy is and with Volvo you get a good price, reliability and driver satisfaction; it ticks all my boxes for what I want to do. That’s why we go with the FHs.”

UK Lift & Haul renews its FH trucks every three years in order to maximise their re-sale value and to keep them up-to-date with Low Emission Zones and FORS. All the vehicles also come with Volvo’s Gold Service Contract.

“I stick with Ian Reed at Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia because he knows exactly what I want, he knows my spec’ and we have a good working relationship,” Toby reports. “The new Volvo is replacing a 2016 plate FH with exactly the same spec, except this one has a bull bar added. It does the job I need it to do.”