Dublin City Council has taken delivery of two of the first new-series Volvo FL 4x2 rigids to be equipped with factory-built crew cabs.

Both trucks, the first of their kind in Ireland or the UK, were supplied by Irish Commercials via their state-of-the-art facility at Naas, Co Kildare. Volvo’s new factory-built, four door crew cab for the FL series, provides seating for up to seven persons.

The cab tilts to 40 degrees and front underrun protection (FUPS) is fitted as standard. The Dublin City Council vehicles are also equipped with rear underrun protection (RUPS), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), EBS+ package with Traction Aid and Hill Hold. The steel suspended drive axle is fitted with a diff lock and a rear anti-roll bar is standard fitment.

Key dimensions of the factory-built FL crew cab include a ‘bumper to back of cab’ length of 2830mm and a rear compartment standing height, from floor to headlining of 1640mm.

The rear passenger compartment, which is accessed via its own doors and two wide, low steps, can accommodate up to four persons. Both trucks are fully equipped for towing and a reverse camera is also fitted.

The new 7.7 litre, D250K Euro 6-compliant engine, rated at 250 hp, provides power for the trucks, which are fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox. The standard fitment exhaust brake provides 120Kw of retardation.

While Dublin City Council’s 16-tonne GVW FL crew cab trucks are operating in everyday use as tippers, they also have the facility to be fitted with demountable gritter bodywork. The gritter spreader mechanism is driven by the engine live drive PTO. The tipper bodywork was built and fitted by Griffith J. Roberts Ltd., of Ballycoolin, Dublin.

Standard driver and passenger seats have three-point seat belts, the front passenger bench with two seats, features a three-point belt on the outer seat and a two-point belt on the inner seat. The rear compartment seating arrangement has two-point belts on all four seats. For the safety and convenience of the rear passengers there are also two roof mounted swinging hand grabs for extra support.

The vehicles are both serviced by Irish Commercials at Naas, Co. Kildare.