New Volvo trucks mark a first for Cenin Cement

Sustainability tops agenda as environmentally driven cement producer opts for Volvo FM tractor units

CENIN Cement have taken delivery of two Volvo FM 6x2 tractor units from Volvo Truck and Bus Wales & West in Avonmouth. The two trucks are the company’s first road-haulage vehicles, having previously used a contract haulier.

The investment decision had sustainability at the top of the agenda, as Cenin Cement are arguably one of the most environmentally driven businesses in the global cement industry.

Through the development of a special process, the company uses industrial by-products, primarily from the steel and power industries, as the base material for production of a cement that has a very similar composition to traditional Portland cement.

Cenin say this innovation has enabled them to fundamentally reset the carbon footprint benchmark for an industry that is accountable for some 5% of the world’s carbon emissions.

‘Conventional aggregate-based methods mean that for every tonne of manufactured cement approximately 920kg of CO2 are produced,’ said technical director Gary Hunt. ‘Here at Cenin Cement, my patented process cuts that figure down to 48kg of CO2 per tonne.

‘Furthermore, through investment in green energy, such as solar power here at Parc Stormy, we have now reduced our emissions to 18kg of CO2 per tonne of cement manufactured, and we aim to cut this even further with the installation of a wind turbine in the coming months.’

Production manager Phil Wellbeloved added: ‘It’s all about the environment. If we can do things to help then we really should.’

With this in mind, Cenin Cement’s directors turned to Volvo when the decision was made to invest in their own trucks. ‘Volvo stood alone in meeting our ambitions in terms of our carbon footprint,’ said Mr Wellbeloved.

‘We chose the FM over the FH because it was that bit lighter but still enabled us to increase our previous payload capability by 1.9 tonnes to 30 tonnes, while the lightweight Estepe centre axle also helps the payload potential of the 44-tonne gross combination weight (GCW) trucks.’

Equipped with Globetrotter cabs, fridges and part-leather upholstery, the two Volvo FM tractor units are powered by 6-cylinder Volvo D13K engines producing 500hp and 2,500Nm of torque. They also feature the intelligent Volvo I-shift automated manual transmission.

The two FMs are expected to cover some 150,000km per annum, either collecting raw material or delivering cement. The company runs a cyclical operation which means that the Feldbinder bulk tanks being hauled by the trucks are always loaded.

In their first week on the road, the Volvo FMs impressed Mr Wellbeloved in terms of fuel consumption. ‘With our old haulier we were getting about 7 miles/gal, but with the Volvo FMs this has leapt up to as much as 9.8 miles/gal,’ he said. ‘This represents a significant annual reduction in fuel usage and emissions, which again plays an important part in our sustainability ambitions.’

The FMs are on six-weekly ‘O’ licence inspections, which are being carried out at Volvo Truck and Bus Wales & West’s Newport dealership. ‘The team at Newport carry out inspections for us in the evening, which means our regular operations are completely unaffected,’ said Mr Wellbeloved.