Ford adds Transit Tipper to One Stop Shop range

Tipper body expands Transit range

FORD has added a tipper body to its Ford One Stop Shop range of specialist bodybuilt vans. It means the Tippers will now be built on the line at Ford’s Transit factory in Southampton, as well as in Turkey. The Transit Tipper is the latest version of the UK’s best-selling tipper. It has been the benchmark for the industry since its launch 12 years ago, evolving through user feedback and legislative requirements. Fleet operators have told Ford that productivity, safety, and cost of ownership are the areas constantly reviewed for efficiency improvements. Every aspect of this new Transit Tipper has been geared to improve these operational needs, says Ford. Mark Simpson, Ford’s marketing director, said: “The success of the Ford One Stop Shop programme can be attributed to our customers. We listened to their operational concerns and needs and created a programme to cater for thousands of different types of businesses. Transit’s dependability and robustness enable us to create commercial vehicles that provide effective business solutions.” There are 35 changes to the Tipper providing benefits in productivity, improved safety and cost of ownership. These include:

• improved payload;
• lower loading height;
• more intuitive tipper control gear and body lock down;
• reduced regular maintenance requirements and;new, repositioned LED rear lights.

The body weight for the single and double cab models has been reduced by 51kg and 40kg respectively, increasing the payload pro‐rata. The weight saving has been achieved by reviewing every aspect of the bodywork, redesigning for weight efficiency without impacting upon performance, strength and durability. A more complex hydraulic system now weighs less than the previous system. However, critical material gauges such as the load bed at 2.5mm, have remained in order to retain durability. Reduced loading height The loading height has been reduced by a useful 40mm by lowering the subframe by 30mm and the deck under‐structure by 10mm. The loading height is now just 995mm at the rear axle to assist manual handling of loads. The deck retains its 2.5mm steel floor and its high strength roll-formed edge to the rear. The control gear has been redesigned to provide a simplified, more intuitive joystick operation. The tipper controls are now all in one position to the offside and next to to the driver