Volvo FH X-Low for Spruijt

04-17-2024 | Written by Iep van der Meer

Spruijt Transport mainly transports fruit, vegetables and plants in large trailers. The new Volvo FH is offered with the X-Low chassis, with a fifth wheel height of approximately 1,000 millimeters. “Our question was to make full use of the loading capacity,” says owner Patrick Spruijt. “Thanks to the leading axle and the X-Low chassis, this is possible. The X-Low chassis is lower and that gives the opportunity to drive a bigger trailer. This allows us to use a higher level of loading and capacity and therefore take more with us. The trailer has an internal height of 2.75 meters so we can hang it up and the load capacity is over three tonnes more than the combination we replaced.”

Big, agile and multifunctional

“With this combination we reach farmers, among others, where the driving space is sometimes very small. That’s why the big trailer has a steering axle so that we can turn it in the shortest possible time. We also have other types of trailers in the fleet and that’s why the Volvo FH this has a fifth wheel lift. It ensures that the truck can be used for many tasks, even though the driver drives a large trailer for it. The truck and trailer have aluminum components around the wheels.”

Chereau Megatrailer

The main Chereau trailer was produced by Hertoghs Carrosserieën. At Spruijt’s request, the trailer has a steering axle, a Carrier cooling engine and an extended tailgate. “Sometimes we do other work with this big trailer, like transporting countertops. They are often more than three meters long and that’s why we chose a reinforced rear gate and a longer platform. The Volvo FH has an economical Turbo Compound engine.” It is the fourth truck in our fleet with this engine,” says Spruijt. “We can see from the usage figures that trucks with this engine are economical. Overall, we run these trucks 1 in 3.7, while the average in our fleet is 1 in 3.5. The driver is also very pleased with the Volvo FH. Sometimes he is on the road for a few days in a row and then sleeps in the truck. In the Globetrotter XL cabin he has everything he needs, including an I-ParkCool air conditioner, refrigerator and microwave.

Blue

Spruijt Transport now has seven Volvo trucks in its fleet. Spruijt: “The choice of Volvo is also very dependent on the workshop service. At Bluekens Truck and Bus in Goes we have repairs carried out on our Volvo trucks and trailers. They also gave constructive input on the configuration of this combination. I had an idea in my head, Truck of Bluekens and Basi and Hertoghs made it technically possible.

About Spruijt Travel

Spruijt Transport was founded in 1995 by Patrick Spruijt and his father Kees. Now the fleet has ten trucks. Spruijt Transport drives to a large number of different customers in the Netherlands and Belgium, but deliveries to further afield in Europe are also possible. “The work we do is very broad,” says Spruijt. “We do a lot of distribution and volume shipping, but we can also do unique transport and refrigerated transport.”