Record-breaking Heighley Gate Garden Centre’s first-ever Volvo

Family-owned business Heighley Gate Garden Centre of Morpeth in Northumberland has taken delivery of its first-ever Volvo truck, an FL-240, 18 tonne GVW rigid which was supplied by Volvo Truck and Bus Centre North in Blyth.

The company was recently given a certificate by the Guinness Book of World Records for building the ‘biggest bird box in the world’. The initiative was devised to get people’s attention for the business with the Guinness accolade and to encourage customers to feed the birds in their gardens.

Heighley Gate’s Transport Manager Simon Wood said that Volvo’s local and national reputation for reliability and service helped the company choose the FL over other 18-tonners on offer. ”The local quarries use Volvo trucks and everyone speaks very highly of them. We negotiated with Volvo Truck and Bus Centre North and put the specification we required to them. They came back very quickly with absolutely excellent service. They also provided the driver training which included the support for the crane.”

According to Simon though, the best overall feature of the new FL is the payload, which he says, exceeds 9 tonnes.

The truck features a Palfinger PK1000 7.5 tonnes per metre crane, which is used for loading mixed aggregates for rockeries and pathways as well as a wide variety of products such as turf and compost.