H & S Contractors Ltd of Kingsnorth, Hoo in Kent has rekindled its association with Volvo loading shovels in the guise of a 25 tonne L150H for its hire fleet.
Established back in 1972, H & S Contractors Ltd specialises in operated and non-operated hire of medium sized plant from 20 tonnes upwards which includes loading shovels, excavators and articulated haulers. The new L150H wheeled loader joins an existing fleet of some sixteen competitive makes of loading shovels, however the company is no stranger to owning and operating Volvo equipment. “Some while back we had experience of operating Volvo loading shovels in our hire fleet and with regards to the articulated haulers we’ve been running them for a good many years and rate them very highly,” says Plant Manager Keith Rogers. “Historically we have run and continue to operate the Volvo A25 E & F models but earlier this year added to two new A30G’s to the fleet as we see this size of truck becoming more and more popular with our customers,” he continues. “Knowing the reliability and performance of the trucks coupled to Volvo’s ability to support the product we decided to look at the latest H series L150 and re-introduce Volvo loading shovels to the fleet.”
The new L150H benefits from Volvo designed and manufactured driveline components designed to offer considerable fuel savings each shift with a 13 litre 300hp Volvo stage IV engine. One of the key features is that a maximum torque of 1317Nm is achieved at just 1450rpm and the resultant fuel savings are further enhanced by the Volvo Eco pedal encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the performance and reliability of the new machine so far,” says Keith. “Our operators and customer’s operators have positively commented on the smoothness of control and performance in addition to the low noise emission of the L150H.”
With a carrying capacity of 28 tonnes and heaped capacity of 17.5m³ the Volvo A30G also meets the requirements of Stage IV final emissions legislation being powered by an electronically controlled, six cylinder 264kW turbo charged Volvo V-ACT diesel engine. This features high torque at low engine speeds, resulting in good fuel efficiency and high performance. Purpose built by Volvo, the engine is designed to exactly match the Volvo drive train, ensuring the best use of power and torque, even in tough working conditions.
All three machines are fitted with CareTrack as standard, which is Volvo’s telematics system that enables remote monitoring of a wide range of machine functions (e.g. location, fuel consumption, service reminders etc.) thus optimizing customer operations. “Since 80% of our total fleet is generally out on non–operated hire, features like CareTrack are important as it helps us monitor the usage of the machines in terms of hours operated and their locations,” says Keith Rogers. In addition the machines are covered by Volvo’s Blue Service Agreement ensuring that they will be regularly maintained at the correct service intervals by qualified Volvo service engineers using genuine Volvo parts – irrespective of where they might be operating in the country.
H & S Contractors Ltd has been providing plant hire and heavy haulage services to all areas of the construction industry since 1972. It offers a wide range of services which includes labour hire, muck shifting, land restoration, aggregate haulage and quarrying activities. Based near Hoo in Kent the company has and maintains a strong presence in the spot to mid and long term hire market for medium sized construction in equipment in the south of England but also services its customers based further afield as far as Leeds and beyond.
