John Mitchell Transport puts first ever Volvos to work with a pair of FH 500s

 

John Mitchell Haulage & Warehousing has gone for Volvo for the first time. Their two new FH 500 6×2 midlift units were supplied on a five-year contract hire deal and feature leather and join a 160 strong fleet, based in Grangemouth, Scotland.

We tried an FH 500 demonstration vehicle with an I-Shift Dual Clutch gearbox for a week back in 2019, but its specification was not quite right for us. However, Sean Merrick persisted and he suggested an FH build that was a closer match.  We then decided to take two FH 500s, which arrived on January 3rd. We’ve high hopes for these Volvos and their performance standards will be monitored closely across the entire retention period, to evaluate whole life costs,” reports Iain Mitchell, Managing Director at John Mitchell Haulage & Warehousing.

Founded in 1956, the company has never agreed a deal with Volvo trucks before. However, it did trial a Volvo F10 6×2 tractor unit for a few weeks back in 1990. Iain continues, “It seems remarkable that in 64 years of business we’ve never committed to Volvo before, but I suppose there’s no time like the present. Sean Merrick has also arranged for the six weekly inspections to be carried out by Volvo technicians within our in-house maintenance facility. That will help our vehicle uptime figures.”

Both the ADR specification FH 500s were specified with I-Shift gearboxes, Long Haul Fuel Plus packages and 2.47:1 rear axle ratios, whilst the Globetrotter Cabs come with leather seats and trims in addition to Drive Plus packages. The new Volvo duo join a fleet of 160 trucks, operating from the company’s 20-acre site in Grangemouth and will be used on container transport and general haulage across the UK.