Amey has bought a new road-marking vehicle with a bespoke body for duties in the Birmingham area with Birmingham Highways Maintenance and Management Service.
The 18-tonne Mercedes-Benz Antos 1824 has been fitted by specialist body builder Somerford Equipment with three fixed oil-fired units for heating the thermoplastic road paints ' one each for white, yellow and a third colour.
A fourth, demountable preheater used for the high friction surfacing material usually laid at junctions. The preheaters have hydraulic paddles which are driven by the truck's power take-off system for a quieter operation.
The Antos has an extended day cab, high-torque, a 7.7 litre straight-six engine which produces 175kW (238hp) and is paired with Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated transmission.
Safety is enhanced by a low point of access to the body for Amey's operatives, an anti-slip finish on the bed and a 360-degree recordable camera system from ISS, which provides live feeds while the vehicle is at work.
Amey's 25-year contract with Birmingham City Council is Europe's largest local government highways partnership.
Amey supply chain manager Jason Clement said: 'Not only do Mercedes-Benz trucks offer well-proven reliability which is crucial to our operations, but they are also fuel-efficient and cost-effective to run and impressively equipped in terms of safety systems.
'The opinions of front-line colleagues are important too and our Mercedes-Benz vehicles are very popular with those who use them. That applies particularly in this case. The road marking team in Birmingham are delighted with their new truck, not least because we involved them in its design ' we listened to what they had to say, then built them the truck they wanted'
