Precon Products relies on the Econic for greater safety at work.

Being adaptable means greater efficiency – and safety. The Econic 2635 L, in operation for Precon Products at Bury St Edmunds, England, is a perfect example of this. The special truck that the company recently bought is equipped for the complex tasks the building supplier has to fulfil. The clear aim is to minimise safety risks and make work processes smoother for drivers who have to deliver material and tools to construction sites all over the country.

On the streets of London.

Mike Philpot, Managing Director of Precon Products, loves his Econic: "The truck could be a real game-changer." The special truck is mainly to be found in the busy city of London. "It’s all multi-drop work in London, which means that it is particularly important that access to the cargo compartment of the truck is easy in order to move loads around, and offload them," Philpot explains.

The expanding company, which together with three contracted hauliers has a fleet of thirty vehicles, has just moved to new headquarters. The staff have been involved in deliveries to showcase London construction sites including the Shard and the new US embassy. "The Econic is ideally suited to safe operation on London's congested streets. Its deep windscreen and full-height glazed side door contribute to excellent all-round visibility. The fact that the driver sits so much lower than he would in a conventional truck also allows him to make direct eye contact with road users, especially cyclists, at junctions and in traffic."

Equipment extras that pay for themselves.

Not only other road users but the drivers themselves benefit from the adaptability of the Econic. The 26-tonner owned by Precon Products has an innovative, fold-down side wall that enables the driver to reach the load.

The hydraulically extendible side walkways, 50 cm in width, along the length of the body, are also extremely useful. You can reach them via a step which folds out at the back of the truck. This means the driver does not have to do any dangerous climbing, for example to get to freight that is hard to reach. When the walkways are in use, strobe lighting is automatically activated at both ends of the platform.

The integrated safety system to make sure no one falls ensure that in this case the fold-down walls are always raised. "I’m not an engineer, so I sat down with the bodybuilder and together we came up with this design. There are other vehicles out there with variations of our walkway which drivers have to pull out manually," explains Mike Philpot.