Palmer & Harvey has appetite for 50 new Isuzus
Wholesaler Palmer & Harvey is using a new fleet of 50 Isuzu Forward N75.150 7.5t rigid vehicles to service cafes, snack bars, garden centres, sandwich shops and pubs, as part of its new P&H Direct food service offering.
Each vehicle stocks consumables such as crisps, chocolate, chilled drinks, chewing gum and key catering essentials such as tea and coffee.
The trucks, which are all specified with purpose-designed Paneltex bodywork, means the wholesaler’s national vehicle fleet incorporates over 110 Isuzus covering a range of distribution applications, all at 7.5 tonnes GVW.
Said P&H Direct managing director Huw Davies: “We pride ourselves on providing the most reliable distribution service to our customers and for this we require a dependable vehicle fleet. As a company, Palmer and Harvey has operated Isuzu trucks for well over 10 years within its national fleet and the proven performance and reliability of the products, supported by unrivalled customer service, is second to none. Furthermore, the payload capacity we achieve from the Isuzus is by far the best in the industry.”
These latest 7.5t Isuzus all feature Isuzu’s Easyshift transmission, and an extra-long Paneltex Ecofont S dry-freight body, which has an interior length of 6,100 mm. Whilst the dry-freight body is principally designed for ambient products, there is a provision for chilled products through the supply of a mobile refrigeration unit within each truck. Mounted on castors, the container has an approximate capacity of 500 litres and is fitted with a top-mounted fridge that can be plugged into either 12 V DC or 240V A/C supply.
To facilitate ease of access into the truck body for the driver/salesman, there is a single, centre rear door with double-folding step. The body also has a compact Penny Hydraulics Load Lift 250 platform at the rear that can handle the loading and unloading of roll cages and trolleys up to 300kgs. Within the body itself, there is a specific office facility with additional electronics for iPads and overall vehicle security is provided through Maple, Twin-Active, Lock-Secure systems to the rear door.
“It’s particularly rewarding to know that our products have been chosen to be the backbone of this new P&H Direct foodservice distribution operation,” said Keith Child, marketing director at Isuzu Truck.
