Carlsberg has invested in two Volvo FM artic units adapted to give a low fifth wheel height allowing the vehicles to be used for both trunking and dray deliveries.
[asset_ref id=”1936″]
Known as the MetroLiner, the Volvos were the brainchild of Carlsberg UK’s national fleet engineer Andrew Davis as a way of improving productivity and cutting costs.
They were specified so that the fifth wheel height is as low as possible to facilitate manual unloading from the single-axle dray trailer.
“Approximately 70 per cent of our deliveries are unloaded manually from the side of the dray trailers,” said Davis. “A slim-line neck on the trailer means that the deck height is the same as our purpose-built rigids and while the combination is not quite as manoeuvrable as an urban artic, the MetroLiner will go anywhere a 26-tonne rigid can go.”
Carlsberg reckons that the MetroLiner concept could be used eventually on ten per cent of its routes.
