Running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the new trucks will clock-up more than 300,000 km per year running between Uniserve’s depot in Chepstow to its customer in Yorkshire.
Gordon McCormick, Group Transport Director at Uniserve, says: “As a business we have been exploring how best to improve the sustainability of our hard-working fleet. For this kind of application, biomethane represents the best option to make significant reductions in our carbon emissions.”
The Volvo FH Aeros are designed for ultimate fuel-efficiency. Supplied by Alan Didwell, Key Account Sales Manager at Volvo Truck and Bus Centre South & East, each FH Aero delivers substantial energy consumption and emission reductions in comparison to a standard FH through a refined, streamlined design.
Additional efficiency gains are unlocked by deploying new technologies, most notably Volvo’s Camera Monitoring System (CMS). Replacing traditional exterior mirrors, CMS increases the driver’s field of view and, when driving with a trailer, deploys auto-panning functionality to follow the rear of the trailer as it turns.
“The demonstrator proved the mpg capability of the Aero design,” adds McCormick. “Over the course of a week’s work, we were looking to achieve a minimum of 9.8 mpg and the Aero hit 10 mpg straight out of the box, which was hugely impressive. We’ve had the new units on the road for a few weeks now and the driver feedback has been really positive.”
Uniserve’s new additions feature a 460 hp gas-powered engine, which delivers the same performance as the diesel version. The 10 FH Aeros will refuel at a newly-installed biomethane facility at the company’s Chepstow base – built by ViGo Bioenergy. The bio-LNG supplied is 100% waste-based, with much of the volume planned to come from ViGo’s own manure-derived biomethane, that can offer carbon savings up to 79%.
“We use state of the art saturation-on-the-fly technology which means the bio-LNG is always provided at the right temperature for maximum performance and range,” explains Jonny Williams, Managing Director at ViGo Bioenergy.
Backed by a full Volvo Gold contract, which guarantees maximum uptime and covers all maintenance and repairs, the new FH Aeros are equipped for driver comfort, with the Globetrotter cabs featuring adjustable steering wheel with neck tilt, leather interior trim, a comfy reclinable bunk, interior lighting with night light and dimmer, plenty of storage and a 33-litre under bunk fridge / freezer.
Safety forms another important part of the specification with the FH Aeros all equipped with Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Side Collision Avoidance Support, and Driver Alert Support systems.
Founded in 1984, Uniserve is the largest privately-owned logistics and global trade management provider in the UK, offering a comprehensive range of freight transport and supply chain solutions.