October 2005
Seddon Atkinson is in the process of supplying a fleet of eight new M5 Pacer refuse collection chassis to Derby City Council, provided by local distributor Sherwood Commercials.
The Pacer 6x4 double-drives represent the first new Seddon Atkinson trucks to be delivered to the council, and replace a number of older Pacers which had originally been purchased second-hand.
Commenting on the new deliveries, Mark Bishell, Workshop Manager at Derby City Council, explains: “The outgoing Pacers are now ten years old, but we have been seriously impressed with their performance and reliability throughout their working life, which was one of the main reasons that led us to place this latest order with Seddon Atkinson. The local service support is also excellent, and the vehicles represent good value for money with economical whole life costs.
“The new M5 Pacers are proving to be welcome additions to the fleet, both from an operational point of view and from the feedback we have had from our crews, who particularly appreciate the amount of space inside the new Pacer crew cabs,” he adds.
Each of the new vehicles is fitted with a 22m³ Heil refuse collection body and Terberg high-level bin-lift, and is dedicated to domestic refuse collection. The specification also includes PM onboard weighing equipment, to ensure no vehicle travels to the waste transfer station above its plated weight of 26 tonnes.
In operation five days a week the new vehicles are expected to remain on the fleet for up to ten years.
They are each powered by Iveco’s 5.9 litre tector engine rated at 275 hp and driven through an Allison MD3560P five-speed automatic transmission, with a wide ratio variant making it suitable for stop-start journeys.