The Mercedes-Benz Econic trucks have a large panoramic windscreen, a fully-glazed kerbside door and a low seating position to improve the driver’s field of vision.
The FM Conway low-entry tipper-grab vehicles are eight-wheelers with a rear steer axle – the first of their kind being used in the capital. This modified wheel configuration helps to prevent disruption to surrounding traffic by reducing the Econic’s turning circle compared to normal eight-wheeled construction vehicles.
The low-entry cab, with two steps instead of four, reduces the risk of injury getting in and outies, and through-cab access allows both drivers and passengers to enter and exit safely on the vehicle’s non-traffic side.
One of the vehicles will be joining the FM Conway fleet on its highways and public realm projects across London. The other will be joining the Conway Aecom joint venture responsible for delivering the London Highways Alliance contract (LoHAC) in the northwest of the capital on behalf of Transport for London (TfL).
FM Conway’s transport manager Peter Parle said: “It is vital that the construction industry does what it can to reduce the risk our vehicles pose to other road users, while also ensuring that our drivers go home safely. We were one of the first contractors in the capital to fit our vehicles with the latest safety equipment now made mandatory under the terms of Transport for London’s Safer Lorry Scheme. The pioneering design of the new Econic trucks marks the next, significant step towards making London’s roads safer for all.”
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