TNT Experiments With Sub-7.5t Trucks

TNT Express has bucked the trend to move away from the 3.5t-6t weight category and chosen to trial 10 5.2 tonne Iveco Daily box vans at its Bradford and Nottingham depots.

Each Daily has a 5.2 tonne gross vehicle weight and has been mounted with a Cartwright dry freight box body.  They will be in operation up to six days a week for the next five years, covering approximately 30,000 miles per year. Each vehicle will be used to make up to 100 deliveries and collections per day.

Steve Davis, National Engineering Manager at TNT Express, says: “We watched the recent launch of the new Daily with interest and it coincided perfectly with this opportunity to reassess the model’s suitability for our fleet.  Despite its smaller size we’re achieving a competitive payload capacity of up to 2.1 tonnes.”

The Daily’s are loaded with all the latest safety features, including Iveco’s new ESP 9 safety system, which is fitted as standard, making New Daily one of the safest light commercials on the road.  Other safety features fitted include ABS (anti-lock brakes), EBD (electronic brake force distribution), ASR (traction control), ESP (stability control), HBA (hydraulic brake assist) to ensure emergency braking is as effective as possible, Hill Holder, LAC (load adaptive braking control), RMI (roll movement intervention) and ROM (roll over mitigation).

Power is provided by a 3.0 litre FPT diesel engine meeting the latest Euro 5 emissions legislation.  Capable of producing up to 146 hp and 350 Nm of torque, it features an enhanced EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system with a DPF (diesel particulate filter) as standard.  The exhaust system architecture and the EGR logic have also been optimised with particular attention to urban duty cycles, which should prevent the DPF problems suffered by some van operators using Euro 5 vans on urban routes.

Renault Masters Toilet Business

Leading portable toilet hire company, Toilets+ Ltd, has taken delivery of its first Renault Master chassis cabs, into its Mercedes Sprinter dominated fleet.

The Masters, six DXi 2.3 (125bp) with L3 cab and one dCi 2.3 (150bp) with L4 cab all have bespoke bodies;  the 125bps have chassis mounted small vacuum pumper unit plus the facility to carry two toilets, the higher powered Renault Master 150hp is fitted with a flatbed that can carry eight toilets and tow a further eight.

A good payload and a competitive deal from Norfolk Truck & Van clinched the deal for Toilets+ to switch from Mercedes Sprinter to Renault Master.

Toilets+ Managing Director, Mick Bowman, says: “We researched the market carefully and the Renault Master offered a competitive package.  They are performing very well on the road, the drivers like them, which is an important factor, and we are looking forward to adding more Masters to the fleet as part of our ongoing vehicle replacement programme.”

Toilets+ expects to get 250,000 miles out of each Master before it is flushed away.