An early adopter of the new IVECO S-WAY from launch in late 2020, Williams Transport has now taken delivery of its fifth, a special creation to mark its golden anniversary. With 50 trucks on the fleet, almost 20% of which hail from the Italian brand, the IVECO S-WAY is laying claim with plans for more moving forward.
This latest IVECO S-WAY joins as a celebratory flagship, with the family-owned company, founded in 1971 celebrating success with 50 years in the haulage business. While the majority of its fleet features a two-tone ivory and green livery, this vehicle harks back to the original colour scheme used when current MD, Andy Williams’ Grandfather started the business.
Custom Paint Job
Supplied by Guest Truck & Van in Peterborough, the 570-horsepower AS440S57TX/FP 6×2, left the Madrid factory in white, but has since been treated to an extensive repaint by MA Harding in Rushden, to a two-tone blue with white and red accents. The chassis, wheel hubs, door mirrors, front grille and external sun visor have all been colour-coded to match.
Not content with this, Williams has had yellow outlining and signwriting in an old English typeface hand painted by Wez at Finch Signs in Raunds, as per the striking original design. Further still, the vehicle has been heavily accessorised with a three-in-one combination perimeter lighting kit, PTO and bespoke side skirts from Bailey and a twin vertical exhaust stack by Truck Max, both in Wisbech. Up front sees fitment of a colour-matched LightFix ‘Big Nordic’ front protection bar and roof-mounted ‘Max’ light bar, both featuring LAZER Triple-R 1000 spotlights.
“Personally, I really like the looks of the new IVECO S-WAY, they’re stunning trucks,” commented R D Williams’ MD, Andy Williams.
“We’ve had good prior experience with the running gear in various Stralis before, and the new cab has made such a difference. Even on short runs, the CURSOR 13 returns great economy. We’ve got a great 25+ year long relationship with Bal Singh at Guest Truck & Van, so after looking through designs in our original livery together and finding decent availability, we decided it’d look great and went ahead with it!”
A Trailer to Match
A matching trailer has also been commissioned, a Knapen EXSIDE which enables the driver to flick between work on both sides of the Williams Transport business without having to waste time returning to base for a trailer swap. The retractable-roofed walking floor trailer also features opening side doors for taking forklift-loaded general cargo for one job and top-loaded recycling for ejection through the rear for the next.
RD Williams tends to take high-spec trucks as a rule, and this is no exception. As brilliant as the ALCOA Dura Bright alloy wheels, the Full LED lighting pack not only helps capitalise on the IVECO S-WAY’s sharp styling with crisp illumination, but adaptive and bending headlights contribute to a 15% uplift in hazard perception in low-light. A DVS kit with forward-facing camera emphasises a focus on operational safety.
Drivers’ Comfort Vital
With drivers spending four to five nights a week out, internally, the vehicle is specified for ultimate comfort. Stand-out features include a reclining lower bunk, HI-COMFORT leather seating with swivelling passenger seat, LED ambient lighting, door and bunk curtains, microwave, navigation system and the premium fridge which unlocks 50-litres of chilled storage plus another 50-litres of freezer space.
Bringing superb comfort and roadholding, the full air suspension allows the ride height to be increased for steering clear of any debris while working in recycling centre yards. It also enables fitment of a digital axle load measurement system for monitoring the load weight and its distribution, maximising payload with a single check on the weighbridge.
“We’ve had some fantastic feedback on the IVECO S-WAY so far, drivers like the way it looks, then they get in and really appreciate the extra space in the new cab. We go for a high specification and everyone we’ve put in one loves it, which is good for driver retention,” added Williams.