Bolton Councils new Volvos - leaner, greener, cleaning machines

Bolton Council has become the first council in the United Kingdom to receive the latest, environmentally-friendly Volvo road sweepers, built in the world’s first climate change-neutral assembly plant in Belgium.

The Volvo FL-L 15 tonne chassis, all featuring impressive 280bhp Euro 5 engines and 9-speed manual gearboxes, are supplied with Day cabs and are considered to be one of the most environmentally-friendly road sweepers available. The Euro 5 engine - which is not mandatory until 2009 - means a 90% reduction in harmful exhaust emissions, when compared to 1990 levels.

Supplied by David Greenwood, Key Account Manager for Thomas Hardie Commercials, the Northwest’s Volvo Truck and Bus Dealership, the three new Volvo FL sweepers will complement their existing fleet of large road sweepers bringing the total fleet size to 8. Each sweeper will cover a distance of around 300 kilometres per week.

As the provider of vehicles to all Bolton Councils departments, Bolton Councils Fleet Management team took charge of purchasing the three Road Sweepers, confident that they would deliver this essential arduous service for the benefit of the residents of Bolton, no matter what the weather conditions.

Johnsons Sweepers were Thomas Hardies Commercial’s chosen supplier for the fitting of sweeper equipment to all three of the vehicles, as they are the world’s largest manufacturers of road sweepers. Johnsons have also been accredited with their ISO 9001 & have recently been awarded with the ISO 14001 (EMS) International Standards for Environmental Management Systems, awarded by the British Standards Institute.

To mark the occasion of their arrival, Thomas Hardie Commercials officially handed the vehicles over in a presentation held at the Council’s Environmental Services depot in Bolton. Fleet Sales Manager for Thomas Hardie Commercials, Ross Talbot, presented the vehicles to Environmental Services Councillor, Nick Peel and Executive Member for Cleaner, Greener, Safer Councillor Elaine Sherington. They said “We’ve been extremely impressed by the capabilities of these new sweepers and are proud to be the first organisation in the UK to take delivery of this latest environmentally efficient model. These new editions to the fleet will help make the environment cleaner and greener as well as sweeping our streets. “

The new Volvo Road Sweepers will be based at in Bolton, where they operate a number of other Volvo vehicles which include sweepers, refuse vehicles, skip loaders and tippers.