Lawsons now offer an eco-friendly delivery solution for builders in the capital, with the first natural gas-powered lorry joining its London delivery fleet.

Lawsons has unveiled the newest addition to its fleet, an IVECO natural gas-powered Eco Truck. Fitted with a fully electric Hiab crane, it is the first vehicle of its kind in the UK offering ultra-low emissions deliveries to the building industry.

The custom-built 26 tonne truck, powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) matches the on-road performance of a traditional diesel 26-tonner, and is fitted with a Hiab X-HiPro 142E-2 crane. As well as ultra-low emissions, the natural gas engine is up to 50% quieter than diesel, dramatically reducing noise pollution.

Paul Sexton, Managing Director of Lawsons, said: “Our Group Transport team led by Fleet Manager, David Harvey, has been working in collaboration with Iveco Trucks and Hiab Cranes to combine a natural gas-powered truck with a fully electric operated Hiab crane.

“Lawsons - through our commitment to continually reduce our environmental impact and improve social wellbeing -we are very proud to be leading the field with a major contribution to the reduction of fuel emissions and noise pollution in the environment, and just as importantly within the communities that we operate.

“Once we are confident of the ability of the truck to perform and deliver the expected noise and emissions reductions, we will look to add to our fleet making a huge contribution to a cleaner, quieter and ultimately healthier London”

David Harvey, Group Transport Manager at Lawsons, added: “Once natural gas was identified as the only realistic alternative to diesel we started speaking to manufactures and IVECO demonstrated a real desire to make it happen, and they secured the order thanks to their unrivalled experience in gas vehicle technology.”

The gas vehicle omits 70% less NOx, 99% less particulate matter, and up to 95% less CO2 when using biomethane. This results in a vehicle which is up to 50% quieter than traditional diesel trucks making it perfect for deliveries in and around the Capital.

Combining the vehicle technology with the Hiab electronic power take off system (ePTO) it allows the engine to be switched off during unloading, reducing truck emissions to zero at the point of delivery.

The performance of all aspects of the vehicle will be closely monitored, and if it performs as expected, Lawsons is confident it will add more natural gas-powered vehicles to its fleet.