Movano fleet solves weighty problem

A Hertfordshire-based grounds maintenance contractor has been able to beat a weighty problem caused by heavy grass cutting machinery by switching to a fleet of specially converted Vauxhall Movano chassis cabs.

John O’Conner (Grounds Maintenance) Ltd of Welwyn Hertfordshire, which maintains grounds for local authorities from Sussex to Staffordshire, faced payload issues with its specialist grass-cutting equipment becoming heavier.

It meant that the £10m turnover company, which employs 320 staff at peak times and runs a fleet of 214 vehicles, was in danger of breaching the 3.5 tonne payload limit for light commercial vehicles if it stayed with its existing vehicle supplier.

John O’Conner also wanted new vehicles to satisfy its own replacement programme and to meet obligations following the successful awarding of contracts by St Albans City and District Council, South Bedfordshire Council, Harpenden Town Council and London & Quadrant Homes.

Transport manager Simon Redhead tackled the problem by selecting a fleet of 34 Movano LWB chassis cabs, the lightest on the market, plus a conversion using specially designed aluminium components from body converters, BL Searle of Sandy, Beds, to beat the problem and keep the total payload under the upper weight limit.

“Our grass cutting machinery had been getting heavier and, after a lot of research, our solution to stay under the weight limit was to bring in the Movanos chassis cabs twinned with a lightweight aluminium conversion from our local body specialists.

“The combination has worked brilliantly and has kept our fleet legal, without having to resort to tachographs and trailers. We’ve seen other benefits, too, with lower floor heights making our vehicles safer to operate and equipment easier to load and unload; while feedback from our drivers has been very positive with regard to the stability, the extra space in the cab and the performance of the Movanos,” he said.

Redhead ordered an initial consignment of 15 LWB tippers and 19 LWB dropsides, incorporating Vauxhall’s highly fuel efficient 2.5 CDTi 100ps power plant and supplied by Vauxhall dealer, Lisles of Knebworth, and now expects to replace the majority of the vehicles on his fleet with Movanos as they come up for renewal.

“This is the first time we have ordered Vauxhall commercials and we have been delighted by the solution that the Movano has allowed us to achieve. We fully expect to be ordering many more for our fleet,” he added