Twelve new left-hand drive Volvo FL road sweepers have been delivered to the Quattro Group whose fleet includes 80 road sweepers, 50 trucks and 400 construction machines.

The new Volvo FL road sweepers, with day cabs, feature two bag rear air suspension and a rear axle ratio of 6.17, which perfectly suits the demands of road sweeping at travel speeds of just 2mph (3.2km/h).

Power comes from Volvo 7.7 litre engines developing 250hp, which is transmitted to the road via 9-speed overdrive manual gearboxes.

Johnston Sweepers fitted the body, which comprises a V801 Dual Sweep system powered by its own independent engine and offering an 8m³ hopper capacity and a water tank capable of holding 2005 litres.

Managing director John Murphy said: “Most of our work these days is either road sweeping on construction projects, or in rail. These new trucks will support our activities on Crossrail and at DP World London Gateway ' the new mega-port near Stanford-le-Hope on the north bank of the Thames.

“Quattro Group has FORS Silver accreditation and the new Volvo sweepers needed to be CLOCS-compliant in order to work in central London.

“We envisage having Gold FORS accreditation by year end so to meet CLOCS, these sweepers are equipped with Crossrail four-way recording camera systems as well as motion sensors, the fitment of which was all looked after by the Volvo dealership. For us, perhaps the biggest difference was suitably dealing with caution when it came to turning right, thanks to the left-hand drive configuration.

“The manual gearbox with its crawler gear was a must and has already impressed. Not a single driver has had anything negative to say about these new Volvo sweepers. In fact they are highly complimentary of the in-cab comfort, the ease of use and the overall driving experience.”

The company has grown since it was launched in 1989 with two road sweepers to have a £40 million-a-year turnover and more than 450 employees.”

The vehicles were supplied by Truck and Bus Wales & West Newport.