Long established food and drink distribution specialists, A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd., have added ten new Volvo FE rigids to its fleet.
Supplied by Ian Middleton, Managing Director at Hartshorne Motor Services Ltd, the ten Volvo FEs are a mixture of 4×2 and 6×2 rigid configurations. The 18-tonne vehicles use Volvo’s D8K engine rated at 280hp and Comfort Cabs, whilst the larger 26-tonners benefit from the same engine size, with an increased 320hp output and Sleeper Cabs. A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd opted for both Gray & Adams and Solomon bodies for the group, which join a fleet of 291 trucks and 205 trailers.
For increased safety levels, the ten FEs feature Volvo’s factory-fitted lower passenger door glazing panels, which offer increased visibility of vulnerable road users. Cycle Alert protective side skirts are also fitted and these provide complete front to rear chassis coverage. The four 6×2 rigids also benefit from increased manoeuvrability levels, with electro-hydraulically steered tag axles.
A. F. Blakemore & Son will deploy the new FE’s on local and long distance, multi drop distribution of food and drink products. The company anticipate a ten-year retention period for the trucks. Volvo trucks account for over 60 per cent of the company’s vehicle fleet and its association with the marque stretches back to the 1980s.
Blakemore Logistics Compliance Manager Dave Higgs commented: “We have enjoyed a good relationship with our local Volvo dealer Hartshorne Motor Services. They have been a favored truck in our fleet for many years, based on reliability, fuel performance and positive driver feedback.”
A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd was founded in 1917 and is a family-owned food & drink retail, wholesale and distribution business, based at Longacres Industrial Estate in Willenhall, West Midlands. Peter Blakemore is the third generation of the Blakemore family to lead the company, which currently employs circa 7,800 people across eight separate divisions and has a turnover of £1.2 billion. The company ranks number 44 in the Sunday Times Top Track 100 of Britain’s private companies.