Long term Isuzu operator Walton Civil Engineering has recently replaced ten of its eleven current Isuzu trucks with ten brand new 19-plate 7.5 tonne Isuzu tippers, in a relationship that goes back to 2011 when they purchased an Isuzu for the very first time.
The ten latest Isuzu N75.190 (E) rigids are fitted with bespoke Thompsons tipper bodies and are now providing a tarmacking and civils team service to Walton’s customers all over the south and south-west of England.
According to John Binding, logistics director at Walton Civil Engineering, “The Isuzu 7.5 tonners have certainly proved their worth in our fleet over the past eight years. We have worked them really hard, but they have been truly reliable during that time. The low chassis and ride heights, combined with the capacity to carry over 2.2 tons of tarmac for example, as well as all the ancillary plant and tool equipment, makes the Isuzu a superb all-round truck. They really do give us a flexible option for providing a range of services to our customers.”
The Isuzu N75.190 (E) tippers were originally ordered through Isuzu’s Cornish dealer T Harvey prior to it being superseded by SW Commercials earlier this year and according to Walton Civil Engineering, it was the strength of the long term relationship between them and T Harvey that has played a valuable role in the continuing success of the Isuzu marque in the Walton fleet.
All ten new Isuzu tippers feature the popular Easyshift automatic gearbox as standard, with each truck specified with a bespoke Thompsons tipper body, which is their interpretation of the Ground Pressure Services (GP Services) 4th generation body. As well as allowing tipping from either the rear or the nearside, this special body design includes a full-width storage locker behind the cab, featuring roller doors on each side. This locker is split 2/3 and 1/3 between secure storage and tools.
In addition, there is a hydraulic lift on the nearside for the safe manual loading and unloading of plant, on and off the tipper body. Insulated sheeting is used to cover all materials on the bed of the tipper body and there are fold-out ladders on the near side for ease of operator access to the low chassis height body.
Finally, two CCTV cameras give operatives clear visual coverage of the load area, whilst all the vehicles are fitted with reversing cameras as standard equipment.
“Health and safety is a priority in our vehicle specification and these Isuzu trucks have the highest quality features to ensure that we give our staff maximum support for both manual handling and access to and from the body when out on site,” said John Binding.
Now that the Isuzus are in service, they will be supported by current local dealer SW Commercials in Redruth and each vehicle is anticipated to cover about 30,000 miles per annum over a five-year life.
The new Isuzus are being used for tarmacking on multiple sites where the trucks will carry a pedestrian roller as well as up to 2.2 tons of tarmac, allowing them to be completely self-sufficient wherever they are working. Such is the flexibility of the overall Isuzu chassis and Thompsons body combination that they can also be used as part of the Walton’s civils teams, covering projects such as concreting and curb replacement programmes. The overall compact footprint of the Isuzu enables them to be undertake jobs in places that traditional 7.5 tonne GVW trucks would not be practical.
“Walton Civil Engineering purchased its first Isuzu truck way back in 2011 and over the last eight years the company has experienced, at first hand, the reliability and overall performance of our 7.5 tonne trucks. With the arrival of the next latest generation Isuzu 7.5 tonne rigids, we are looking forward to continuing our ongoing successful relationship with Walton Civil Engineering for a further five years,” said Lee Barwick, fleet sales manager, Isuzu Truck UK
