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Volvo North America has partnered with Berkshire Hathaway’s Fontaine Modification to develop the Volvo Auto Hauler (VAH) 300, Volvo Trucks’ signature day cab in the North American market. This reduced-height cab option is currently the lowest in the industry by 1.5 inches, offering auto haulers best-in-class versatility for local and regional automobile transport applications. The 300 is now available for order at an unladen 94.5-inch height.
“At Volvo Trucks, we pride ourselves on building strong partnerships to solve our customers’ business needs,” said John Felder, product marketing manager at Volvo Trucks North America. “Through extensive research, testing and engineering in collaboration with Fontaine Modification, the new VAH 300 model with a 94.5-inch height represents a new standard of excellence for trucks in the highly specialized auto hauler market.”
The company notes that over the last 10 years, the height of vehicles hauled has significantly increased as the demand for more SUVs versus sedans rises. As a result, auto haulers are now in need of a solution that maximizes freight capacity, while also delivering optimal efficiency. The lower overall height of the VAH 300 offers the flexibility to position a larger vehicle over the truck’s cab to maximize payload. A clean top-of-frame behind the cab also allows for easier body mounting and trailer hookup.
“At Fontaine, we are proud of our recent changes that will provide about three more critical inches of room for hauling larger vehicles above the VAH 300 day cab,” said Paul Kokalis, president of Fontaine Modification Company. “We’re pleased to help Volvo Trucks deliver this best-in-class, reduced-height cab option to meet the demands of the North American auto hauler market.”
In addition to this new model, Fontaine also modifies a full range of Volvo Trucks models to service the needs of all customers for any auto hauling application or load size.
© 2020 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.