The first ever Isuzu trucks have recently gone into service for the landscape and tree services division of Cornish firm, Cormac. Two Isuzu 5.5tonne 4x2 rigids, fitted with twin rear wheels and bespoke aluminium tipping bodies, are now operating throughout Cornwall and are expected to have a seven-year working life at Cormac.
Part of the Conserv Group, which provides essential public services to Cornwall Council and other organisations, Cormac is Cornwall’s biggest highways, environment and infrastructure company.
“When we were looking for two new vehicles for this specific operating division, the environmentally friendly Isuzu Euro VI chassis stood out for many reasons. Principally, with the light weight aluminium tipping body, we can get an excellent payload of 2.1 tonnes from the Isuzu 5.5 tonne chassis cabs, whilst it is robust enough to be more than capable of towing our existing trailers that have chippers and shredders on them. The vehicles have a modern ergonomic cab, which the drivers really like, and an excellent turning circle that is absolutely vital down here in Cornwall when you look at our compact road infrastructure,” said Wayne Fox, fleet engineer at Cormac Ltd.
Powered by the Isuzu turbo intercooled DOHC 4-cylinder diesel engine, paired with an Isuzu 5-speed manual transmission, the Isuzu N55.150 trucks both feature a wider Hexapod cab that easily accommodates the three-man working teams employed by Cormac. Also, as part of the Cormac specification, the trucks have removable winches at the front of each vehicle, which are used for extracting tree stumps and for pulling logs.
The aluminium tipping bodies on both Isuzus were manufactured by local company SW Commercials and also house dedicated welfare pods for the safe storage of tree cutting equipment. The bodies can also be fitted with additional removable greedy sides that provide much deeper storage to cope with larger volume loads.
“Once again, Isuzu ticks the boxes for another local authority organisation, in terms of payload and manoeuvrability, with the N55.150 chassis giving Cormac the ideal specification to meet all their requirements for impressive overall ‘on the road’ performance. Cornwall is certainly a popular region for the Isuzu truck range with the county having a higher than average vehicle population, due to the suitability of the compact but robust Isuzu chassis for the demanding Cornish road network,” said Dave Slatcher, municipal sales manager, Isuzu Truck UK.
Further information about the full range of Isuzu trucks can be viewed at www.isuzutruck.co.uk.