Tipper Haulier of the Year Mick George Ltd has further enhanced its impressive safety credentials by commissioning the first Mercedes-Benz Econic construction vehicles to operate outside of London.
The new trucks will spend a lot of their time working in and around historic Cambridge, which has been described as the ‘city of cycling’ in the UK.
The Mercedes-Benz Econic combines a panoramic windscreen and full height glazed passenger door, with a low seating position that will allow the driver to make direct eye contact with cyclists and pedestrians at junctions and in traffic.
This means the low entry chassis will offer major safety advantages in a university city where it is estimated that one in five journeys is made by bike, many of them by students.
A leading supplier to the construction industry in East Anglia and the East Midlands, Huntingdon-based Mick George operates quarries, landfill sites and waste transfer stations, and provides bulk excavation and earthmoving, aggregate supply and waste management services.
The firm’s success in winning the Tipper Haulier of the Year title at the 2016 Tip-ex/Tank-ex awards came soon after it secured the coveted Gold accreditation from the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS). Mick George is also a CLOCS (Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety) Champion.
Its new construction vehicles are being supplied by Orwell Truck & Van, and will be inspected and serviced under Mercedes-Benz Repair and Maintenance contracts at the East Anglia Dealer’s recently-opened branch in Newmarket.
The order comprises five 18-tonne Econic 1830s with Hyva skip-loader bodies and five 32-tonne Econic 3235 ENAs with alloy tipping bodies by Wilcox. The eight-wheelers, which offer a highly competitive payload of 20,450 kg, have single front steer axles, double-drive bogies and rear-steer axles. This configuration gives the vehicle an impressively tight turning circle, and makes it significantly more manoeuvrable than a standard 8×4 construction truck, a major advantage for operation in tight streets.
