IVECO Daily 7-Tonne ‘hotbox’ paves the way for Dawsongroup Sweepers

Monday 22nd November 2021

Leaders in the self-drive municipal and highways maintenance equipment rental business, Dawsongroup Sweepers, have taken delivery of 10 IVECO Daily chassis cabs for conversion to ‘Hotbox’ road repair vehicles.

There are currently around 1,200 vehicles on the Dawsongroup Sweeper fleet, with the number of those hailing from the IVECO brand growing actively. With its business not having slowed down throughout the pandemic, all 10 of the new Daily vehicles are already spoken for and will be off to their end users shortly after receipt from the bodybuilder.

The 72C18HA8 vehicles feature IVECO’s powerful, yet efficient 180hp 3.0 F1C diesel, pushing 430Nm of torque through the rear wheels via the class-leading 8-speed automatic HI-MATIC gearbox. Supplied by Northern Commercials Brighouse, the vehicles are based on the Business trimline, which features premium and residual value boosting features such as electrically heated & adjustable door mirrors, front fog lights, cruise control with speed limiter and manual air conditioning.

The 3750mm wheelbase vehicles have had Thompsons tipping “Hotbox’ bodies fitted, and have been taken on long-term rental contracts by a variety of local authority and utility sector customers. They’ll work transporting and dispensing fresh tarmac for the repair of road networks and installation or reinstatement of infrastructure, such as streetlights. Various FORS accreditation options remain available to customers dependent on their operational safety needs before delivery to end users.

“We’ve built a strong relationship with IVECO and Northern Commercials, who are based a matter of yards from our own depot,” commented Dawsongroup Sweepers MD, Glen Carruthers.

“Daily 7-tonne range presents a compelling package for our rental user’s needs. With chassis cabs at 7.2-tonnes GVW, licensing is relatively simple, and we benefit from an impressive payload with a comparatively small overall footprint. The Daily’s high levels of specification and HI-MATIC gearbox provide us with a premium customer offering which is versatile, comfortable, and reliable.”

The business has built a reputation on its superior service and believes that offering high-quality equipment specified for driver comfort boosts customer satisfaction and encourages repeat business. The heavy-duty construction and 3,500kg (3,300kg for 7.2 tonne HI-MATIC) towing capacity of the Daily 7-Tonne range gives assurances that it’s ready for any mission.

Smart, tactile and purposefully hard-wearing, Daily’s interior trims and controls will easily deal with years of wear from heavy work boots and layers of PPE. Meanwhile, a tight turning circle and CITY steering mode (reducing steering effort by up to 70%) alongside the smooth-shifting HI-MATIC gearbox alleviate the strain from complicated and low-speed operations, enhancing vehicle uptime through reduced clutch wear.

“Traditionally, this type of vehicle sits upon a much larger chassis, between 7.5 and 18-tonnes gross. However, much of Dawsongroup’s customers work is carried out in areas where access can be limited and time is in short supply,” added Mike Cutts, IVECO UK’s Light Business-line Director.

“With Daily 7-Tonne, we’re able to offer operators a far more suitable vehicle that offers just as much punch as its bigger compatriots in terms of payload. In health & safety terms, Daily comes up trumps again with a smaller footprint, lower working height and a cab far better suited to maintaining exemplary site safety, with a driver’s line-of sight comparable to that of a pedestrian.”

Dawsongroup Sweepers usually runs its vehicles for three to five years dependent on usage and expect these to cover an annual mileage of around 20,000 miles. The high demand for this batch of Daily has since seen Dawsongroup place an additional order for caged tippers on the same Daily 7.2t platform.