Together with the Center for Composite Materials at the University of Delaware, Wabash will develop a refrigerated truck body/trailer solution made with composite materials and installed with lightweight solar panels.

The German manufacturer recently unveiled three new fire trucks: two with corrosion-resistant aluminium bodies, one with a body optimised for airport applications, and all with new driver display systems in the cab.

The ‘StreetDeck Ultroliner’, which was originally launched in 2014, will now be offered with a Cummins ‘B6.7’ engine, replacing the six-cylinder Daimler ‘OM936’ which was used before.

The new trucks will replace the council’s current fleet vehicles, many of which are beyond their operational lifespan or are on hire.

The order consists of fifty ‘S.BO Express’ semi-trailers with dry freight bodies and twenty-five dollies which connect a pair of trailers to create an extra-long truck-trailer combination (up to a maximum length of 31.5 metres).