Adnams Brewery Ales’ new Volvo FL with I-Sync is no small beer

Award-winning Suffolk brewery Adnams has taken delivery of a new Volvo FL 18 tonne, 4x2 rigid, which is among the UK’s first to feature the new I-Sync automated transmission. Selected for the performance of the new gearbox, the truck is the first Volvo in the company’s fleet of 25 and will deliver drinks, including the brewery’s own celebrated ales, from its Southwold headquarters to outlets across East Anglia and the South East.

The new I-Sync automated gearbox has been created by Volvo especially for the FL’s 7-litre engine – in this case the 280hp version - and is optimised for local delivery work with its stop-start engine use profile. Supply Chain Manager Kevin Wells confirms the significance of the new system in Adnams’ decision. “Volvo had been in touch with us for some time,” he recalls, “but we had decided that any new vehicles in the fleet would be automatic which they couldn’t supply at the time. As soon as the I-Sync was available, we tried it and I have to say it’s the best install of an automated ‘box I’ve ever come across. The drivers, too, came back from testing very impressed.”

Of particular importance is the I-Sync’s performance on fuel economy. Adnams prides itself on its ecologically sound practices, as Kevin explains: “For instance, we have a new distribution centre built to the highest environmental standards with features like a grass roof and the use of lime hemp blocks in place of concrete. We’re always looking to maximise the mpg of our trucks as part of maintaining those credentials.”

In addition to the I-Sync gearbox, the truck features rear air suspension, a tuckaway tail-lift and a Day cab in ‘Comfort’ trim. The bodywork, as with many brewery drays, is of pillarless curtainsider construction, in this case by Colliers of Malden. “The manoeuvrability and low chassis height that the FL offers are very useful,” says Kevin, “because we operate in small streets and yards as well as in rural areas with tree-lined roads; in the past, we have suffered tree damage so the low deck is pretty important!”

Adnams will carry out their own regular repair and maintenance - with only warranty and heavy engineering work being carried out by supplying Dealers Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia at Norwich – but Kevin acknowledges that “Volvo have a very good reputation for service.”