Readypower readies new Volvo FH460 trio

MV Commercial has supplied specialist rail and infrastructure services provider Readypower Rail Services with three 32-tonne 8×2 Volvo FH460s, mounted with heavy-haulage plant bodies and Palfinger PK33002 loader cranes.

The three new trucks join the company’s 24-strong mixed commercial vehicle fleet.

Cameron Barr, rail services director (Scotland) at Readypower Rail Services, said: “Previously we’d have bought the chassis, delivered it to the crane supplier, then had to go to the bodybuilder, before getting each truck type approved. [But] MV were able to do all of that for us – they’re a one-stop shop.”

The bespoke-built beavertail plant bodies include dedicated rail channels to accommodate the specialist rail plant and equipment they are required to carry.

Two of the trucks will operate out of Readypower Rail Services’ Nottingham depot, with the other based in the yard at Rochester. They will cover around 120,000 km annually, delivering heavy plant and attachments such as buckets, grabs, rail beams and rail freight, to Network Rail’s principal maintenance contractors.

Specified for driver safety and comfort at night, the Globetrotter cabs feature microwaves, night heaters and inverters. Each truck is fitted with beacon bars, plus extra working lights and strobes, alongside passenger door windows and a full Brigade camera system to meet the uprated Direct Vision Standard for London.

Readypower Rail Services has hubs in Reading, Nottingham, Wigan, Warrington and Blantyre. Continuing its ongoing expansion, the company added a new site at Caldicot, near Cardiff, via acquisition at the start of 2024.