You will always find plenty of used Volvo FL trucks for sale on Truckpages’ search results. The smallest truck in the Volvo Trucks range, it is available with hundreds of variants and the lightweight distribution truck is flexible enough for most applications.
Not available as a 7.5 tonner, the current model FL starts with the 5.1-litre 4 cylinder D5K engine in the FL510 – a 10-tonne GVW rigid. With versions available up to 18 tonnes GVW with the FL818.
Read back through the Volvo Trucks history and you will see that the company started out by making small and medium sized trucks. By the seventies, the business lost its way in this segment as it focused on the heavy trucks.
The mid-eighties saw the launch of the first Forward control (F) Low level cab (L), hence FL model.
1985 – FL Appears for the first time. Designed from scratch, the cab had lots of windows and low entry points. The original models had Light, Medium and Heavy-Duty versions in different weight classes and these distinctions were made in the model description – FL6L, FL6M and FL6H which went up to 18 tonnes GVW.
Also available were the FL7 and FL10 trucks – with power outputs of up to 318HP meant that they could be used to replace the heavier F10 for construction and distribution use if a smaller cab was desired. Today, these trucks have since been replaced by the FE and FM ranges. These models were Volvo’s best seller in the UK in the latter part of the 1980s.
Using engine technology shared with Volvo’s marine division, Volvo moved into the 7.5 tonne market. If they were hugely successful in this niche, they would still be in it today!
Combining the strength of the D12 engine seen in the FH and the low entry 2.5m wide cab, the FL12 was a hit with tipper operators and regional, high payload distribution.
Volvo felt that the cab was still sufficient for the job in hand, giving it a facelift, but the new chassis was based on the designs already seen in the larger FH and FM trucks. This means disc brakes and Data Bus systems. The FL was available with outputs of 180 to 250HP from the 6-litre D6B at the time.
This time the FL got a new cab and was available in ready-bodied variants in readiness for the ‘Whole Vehicle Type Approval’ that came some years later. There were three options for the cabs: Day, Comfort and Crew cabs.
Fitted with the 7-litre D7E engine, rated with two power options of 240 or 280HP, the FL followed the change in model naming by dropping the swept volume from the model, therefore instead of an FL7.240 it became known simply as the Volvo FL240.
At launch of the Euro 4 models, customers could also opt for Euro 5 versions immediately. This meant that operators could demonstrate their green credentials by specifying a Euro 5 truck prior to the deadline some three years later.
Since the cab was already new, it simply received a facelift in 2013 when the range had the 6-cylinder, 7.7-litre D8 and the 4-cylinder, 5 litre D5 engines upgraded to Euro 6 using a combination of EGR, particulate filter and SCR technology. Now available as an FL250 or FL280 with a choice of 6 or 9-speeed manual gearboxes, the automated I-Shift or a fully automatic Powershift gearbox.
For added flexibility, chassis lengths start at 6.1 metres and go right up to an impressive 11.2 metres. No 6×2 variant exists – you must choose a Volvo FE for 26 tonne operation.
Although not for general sale until June 2019, with series production in March 2020, Volvo released the details of their FL electric as far back as 2018.
It’s a big step, investing in brand new trucks. Up until now, Atkins LGV Training had taken the options of buying used trucks or taking on trucks on a lease basis. For the first time, the operator has taken the plunge and bough no fewer than four brand new Volvo FL curtainsiders for their LGV…
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