Impressed by the proven payload, the experienced dealer support and the standard three-year unlimited mileage warranty on the Isuzu truck range, Sefton Council has recently invested in 11 new Isuzu trucks within its Operational Services Department based at Bootle, Merseyside.
Two new Isuzu Forward F18.260 18t rigid chassis cabs, each fitted with Multilift SLT142 telescopic skip loading bodies, have joined the Sefton Council fleet, providing commercial skip services throughout the Borough, covering an area from Bootle in the south right up to Southport at the northern tip of Sefton.
In addition to these vehicles, Sefton Council has also added nine new Isuzu 7.5t rigid vehicles to its fleet, providing a range of services from multi-purpose collections through to rapid response vehicles.
According to Vin Donnelly, vehicle fleet/depot manager at Sefton Council, "It was a major decision to switch from our previous vehicle suppliers and commit to Isuzu for these new vehicles. However, we talked with various other Authorities running similar vehicles and each one spoke highly of the performance and reliability of the Isuzu products."
The multi-purpose collection vehicles are four Isuzu N75.190 chassis cabs, fitted with curtain sided bodies, for collecting the more bulky items from local residents. A further four Isuzu N75.190 chassis cabs fitted with box bodies, each housing an Isuzu diesel engine, are being used as rapid response multi-purpose, clean up vehicles for problems such as graffiti cleaning and oil spillage. These vehicles also have capacity to store bulky items.
The ninth Isuzu N75.190 chassis is fitted with a caged tipper body. This has joined the Sefton fleet for litter collection throughout the Borough. All of the Isuzu 7.5 tonners have been specified with Isuzu's standard offering of automated transmission - Easyshift.
"Our decision to switch to Isuzu has been vindicated as, not only were they competitive on purchase cost, but all the vehicles, including the 18 tonners, have three years of unlimited mileage warranty as standard. The Isuzu's are extremely driver friendly and the Easyshift transmission on the 7.5t vehicles is superb. Finally, and most importantly, we cannot speak highly enough of the exemplary level of service that we receive from Ditchburn Truck Services at Maghull, our local Isuzu truck dealer," added Vin Donnelly.
Sefton Council will operate these vehicles over a five-year working life. They are all based at the Sefton Council depot in Bootle, with the exception of one of the 18t skip loaders and one of the rapid response vehicles - these are based at the Council's depot in Southport.
"As a new customer to Isuzu, Sefton Council is now experiencing at first hand the performance of the Isuzu range. The payload capacity of our 7.5 tonners gives us a great advantage and our long-term, unlimited mileage warranty plays a crucial role too, especially at 18 tonnes. With an experienced local dealer close at hand we've been able to provide Sefton Council with the confidence and peace of mind right from the outset of our working relationship with them," said Keith Child, Marketing Director, Isuzu Truck UK.