URO Vehículos Especiales S.A. presented its new range of trucks, called URBATEK, specially designed for urban applications at TECMA, the International Urban Planning and Environment Fair. This launch is part of the Spanish company’s diversification strategy with the aim of complementing its traditional range of off-road vehicles with other areas of activity within industrial applications.
The new trucks are now available in a range of eco-friendly propulsions ranging from natural gas engines or hybrid systems, to fully electric plug-in units. The latter constitute the great novelty, since they allow urban works to be carried out with zero emissions and without noise pollution, which makes them especially suitable for driving in urban environments and, especially, in night work cycles.
For UROVESA, one of the most relevant sectors is that of vehicles for special applications within urban environments. The company already collaborates with some of the most relevant players in the waste collection and street cleaning sector, supplying vehicles for work in historic centers or rural areas with very narrow streets. As a result of this collaboration, the vehicles manufactured by UROVESA already provide service in places such as Madrid, Barcelona, Castellón, Segovia, Vigo and Ponferrada.
The new range of urban trucks represents a complete change in the vehicle concept and differs from the urban trucks manufactured by the company to date, incorporating unique elements within its category.
The units in the URBATEK range have a maximum width of 2 meters, which allows them to enter the narrowest streets of historic centers, and the steering has an extraordinary turning radius that provides excellent maneuverability in curves and intersections in narrow streets. They have a maximum mass of 18 tons, which provides the highest load capacity for trucks in its category. This allows the vehicle to carry large capacity equipment, both for waste collection and street cleaning, or even large tankers and emergency equipment for urban firefighters.
In addition, they have a very low forward cabin, easily accessible, so that users enter and exit the truck effortlessly thanks to the fact that the floor rises very little from the outside ground. It is also designed with a high interior height so that the occupants can get up inside the cabin before leaving, and sit down once they have entered the vehicle again. In turn, it has a windshield and large windows that provide an optimal field of vision for working in narrow areas and environments where there are many interferences.
The driving position is very low, and resembles that of a car, which gives the driver a feeling of easy driving even if it is a truck with a large load capacity. The vehicles have an automatic transmission, which facilitates the constant starting and stopping maneuvers, so repeated in tasks such as the collection of urban solid waste.
The suspension is pneumatic and adjustable in height. This, besides adding more comfort to the occupants, allows the truck to be raised to easily avoid obstacles such as curbs and, in turn, lowered when necessary so as not to interfere with obstacles such as balconies or commercial signs. This operation is carried out from the driving position, easily and immediately.
