UK – Volvo Group UK & Ireland Ltd of Warwick, UK recently made a delivery of a 32-tonne FMX truck fitted with a bespoke tipper and dropside combination body, designed and assembled by the customer, Malcolm Allan Housebuilders Ltd of Kintore, UK. 

Bruce Allan, director of the real estate developer based in Scotland, drew on his mechanical engineering experience to design and build a multi-functioning tipper and dropside body, after finding no bodybuilders willing to take on the job. He built the floor and sides of the body with Hardox 450 steel, whilst thinner Strenx 700 structural steel was used for the crossmembers. Unlike conventional dropside bodies, this unique body has hydraulically-powered single-piece sides which can be lowered at a button press. Similarly, the tarpaulin, which was supplied by Cramaro and is integrated with the body, is also operated automatically. The tail door is hydraulically-powered as well, though manual barn doors with a wider aperture can be used instead for bigger and bulkier loads, and a hydraulic vibration unit helps to shake out sticky materials. The body was painted at the Gray & Adams factory in nearby Fraserburgh.