Trucks
Fitted with a sleeper cab option and Drive+ package, the FMX tipper has a straight-beam front axle for ground clearance, Dura-Bright alloy wheels to keep the kerb weight down and Kelsa light bars. KV Shepherd & Son also opted for a Wilcox aggregate and asphalt body with Hyva tipping gear, PM Onboard weigher and Harsh easy sheet.
Based in Contin, west of Inverness, K.V. Shepherd & Son was started by Vic Shepherd in 1957, and is run today by his son John Shepherd.
"I like the Volvo product," explains John, "and I can't see past them. The trucks are strong, reliable and lightweight, which is what we need for the job. Overall the specification gives us a very competitive 20,200kg payload."
John Shepherd ordered Volvo's factory-fit camera at the rear with a cover lens that stops the screen being covered in grit and dirt, and he has a forward-facing camera fitted too.
John Shepherd is currently buying trucks at a rate of two a year. "This is the first one of 2018, with a second purchase planned for later in the year," he notes.
The first Volvo to work on the K.V. Shepherd & Son fleet arrived in 1999 and was a second-hand FL12 eight-wheeler, but two years later the company bought its first new Volvo - an FM12 with a day-cab and insulated body.
Ever since Volvo has been a mainstay on the fleet and today Volvo dominates the firm's fleet of eight trucks.
Supplied by Kevin Fraser, Transport Solutions Executive at Volvo Truck and Bus Centre North & Scotland in Inverness, the new FMX has a two-year warranty and two-year repair and maintenance package.
Inverness is one of 12 dealerpoints that cover northern England and Scotland, whilst the Longman Drive depot also runs an Authorised Testing facility (ATF).
"Volvo's Inverness dealerpoint offers the support we need to work. We have a good relationship and understanding with them. If I phone up with an issue they are looking at the truck within the hour," John reports.
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