Grundon has taken delivery of a new Euro-6 DAF CF 460 FTG Space Cab for dedicated use on the company’s operations with Carbon8 – a company which uses Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) to treat incinerator residues – including residues from the joint Grundon / Viridor Lakeside Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in Colnbrook near Slough.
The Carbon8 process creates a carbon negative aggregate from the incinerator residues and provides a sustainable solution to managing residual waste.
A further four DAF CF 290 FAN rear-steer and two CF 290 FAG mid-steer trade waste vehicles (all with optional Allison gearboxes) are on order.
Joining them will be a range of vehicles including skip- and hook-loaders, container handling vehicles, LF 7.5 tonners for clinical waste, LF 16- and 18-tonners for trade, alongside CF 26-tonne mid- and rear-steer rigids and CF eight-wheelers, tanks and hook-loaders at 32 tonnes – all scheduled for delivery throughout the Summer.
The latest orders, 21 new trucks in total, will take DAF’s presence in the Grundon fleet to 170 units, or 75% of its total fleet. All of the vehicles are being supplied by DAF’s dealer Channel Commercials based in Ashford.
The new DAF fleet comes with ‘Carbon Neutral’ certification, as part of Grundon’s affiliation with The Carbon Neutral Company, whereby all Grundon’s vehicle emissions are offset by a three-year re-forestation programme in Uganda.
“In 2005, we began to investigate the truck market,” said Stephen Townsend, group fleet engineer at Grundon, “and DAF really impressed with their willingness to meet our requirements.
“Support, particularly in the shape of product sales, engineering, aftersales, technician training and DAFaid, have been excellent in most instances.
“What currently separates DAF from other manufacturers, in my view, is the way a product issue is dealt with in the field or by the side of the road.
“DAF acts to put the vehicle back to work as soon as possible without a quibble; once back up and running the problem, whatever it may be, is discussed and sorted. That’s the priority DAF provides, which is a genuine commitment to uptime and I would suggest that’s precisely what all truck operators are looking for.”
“From a product point-of-view,” he added, “DAF delivers on quality. Our drivers recognise that, too.
“We want to keep our long-haul drivers comfortable and DAF’s Space Cab provides a very comfortable working environment.
“Along with all LF and CF variants within the Grundon fleet, they are fitted with driver comforts because, as a business, we know that a happy driver is a productive one.”
Incinerator residues in the form of ash is collected from the Lakeside EfW facility before being treated using Carbon8’s ACT process.
The resultant ‘synthetic’ aggregate can then be used for producing building blocks, with no landfill requirement, thus providing a carbon-negative solution to residual waste.
Lakeside Energy from Waste processes over 410,000 tonnes of residual waste every year, generating 37 MW of renewable electricity for distribution to the National Grid – enough to power approximately 50,000 homes.
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