Rose Green Tiles & Reclamation turns to FUSO

With a 20-year track record of trouble-free performance from a series of FUSO Canters, Bristol-based Rose Green Tiles & Reclamation only had one vehicle in mind when choosing a new truck.

The company’s new Canter is a 3.5-tonne 3C13 model, supplied – like all its FUSO vehicles since 2007 – by local dealer City West Commercials.

“We’ve had three 3.5-tonne Canters and a couple of 7.5- tonne variants, with cranes, in the last 20 years,” said proprietor Gerald Selway. “They’ve never let us down. Not once have we had a breakdown, which means that apart from routine maintenance they’ve never been off the road. That kind of reliability is invaluable. We work with a lot of people in the building trade, who run all sorts of vehicles, but I’ve never seen one that I’d swap for a Canter.”

Its new Canter has a Comfort cab and 3.4m wheelbase – one of six lengths available – and was fitted with a Scattolini aluminium platform body at the FUSO factory in Tramagal, Portugal.

Power comes from a well-proven, fuel-efficient 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine that produces 96 kW (130 hp) and 350 Nm of torque. The compact exhaust system means the vehicle also meets the EURO VI – ST.

This point was a crucial attraction for Mr Selway – his previous 3.5-tonne Canter, which was built in 2016 to the then-current Euro V standard, would have been subject to a charge every time it entered the Bristol Clean Air Zone which came into force in November last year.

“The Canter is ideal for our sort of work. Its compact design and cab-over-engine layout makes it very nimble. It turns on a sixpence, even with a 14-foot body, which makes negotiating the narrow streets of areas like Clifton much easier.”