Britaniacrest Recycling make it a Hyva double

Company purchases two fully remote-controlled Hyva skiploaders for increased safety and productivity 

SURREY-based Britaniacrest Recycling Ltd are putting into service their first two fully remote-controlled Hyva skiploaders, providing significant improvements in both operating safety and vehicle productivity.

Mounted on 18-tonne gvw Volvo FE chassis, the new ‘66’ registered trucks allow drivers to have easy access to the skiploader’s functions, including operating the vehicle’s sheet system from a lightweight handset.

According to Hyva, using the ‘Handy’ controller, which is similar in size to a TV remote, makes the skiploader loading/unloading cycle considerably quicker than by using traditional, fixed position side-mounted levers. Better still, by offering the driver full 360° views of the truck, the likelihood for accidents or damage (when off-loading skips) is reduced to almost zero.

‘Hyva’s remote-controlled Handy system is a big step forward,’ said Britaniacrest director Richard Foss. ‘It’s valuable in situations where you don’t have a banksman behind the vehicle or during domestic skip deliveries where access and the available space for delivering skips are much more limited. Now, for the first time, the driver has a full walkabout capability and can watch the loading/unloading procedure from anywhere around the truck.’

By being able to operate the vehicle’s sheeting system as well as the core skiploader functions, Hyva’s Handy system goes a stage further than the company’s original crane-based remote control system introduced only a year ago. 

As an added safety measure, the two new skiploader platforms also feature Hyva’s fully adjustable skip clamp system. ‘At any stage in skiploader technology, Hyva is ahead of the rest,’ commented Mr Foss. ‘That said, the key issues in operating any type of equipment in as hard an environment as ours are reliability, durability and low upkeep costs. For us, Hyva skiploaders on Volvo chassis are the ideal combination.’

Working out of the company’s extensive operating centre in Horley, the Britaniacrest fleet is fully engaged in all types of waste-management activities, including skip hire, tipper and grab work, bulk haulage, road sweeper operations and the supply of recycled aggregates.

Running their own on-site transfer station, Britaniacrest currently recycle over 90% of the 250,000 tonnes of incoming waste they receive each year, making them one of the recycling industry’s ‘benchmark’ operators in South East England.