Grayson Thermal Systems, which designs and manufactures engine cooling, heating and air-conditioning products for commercial-vehicle and specialist-vehicle industries world-wide, has invested in heavy-duty lifting solutions from Totalkare (www.totalkare.co.uk), as it gears up to play a key role in helping a leading bus and coach operator get ready for the introduction of Birmingham’s planned Clean Air Zone in July 2020.

T8DC cable-free mobile column lifts are being used to help Grayson upgrade 637 buses owned by National Express West Midlands to the Euro 6 standard required by new legislation.

Alexander Dennis Enviro200s and Enviro 400s, Volvo B7RLEs, Scania OmniCitys and Omni Links, as well as Euro 3 Dennis Tridents, are all being lifted at Grayson’s Birmingham facility, with 20 conversions being carried out every week until the end of 2019.

TotalKare sales and marketing director James Radford said: “The solution, which features HJS Emission Technology’s Real Blue SCRT exhaust after-treatment system and Grayson’s E-Drive electric radiator fan, takes about 45hr to implement, and 284 buses have been converted so far.

"Many city centres are looking at how they manage traffic and deliver cleaner vehicles, and we are really pleased that our heavy-duty lifting technology is being used in a project that will generate better air quality for Birmingham.

"We have a long-standing relationship with Grayson Thermal Systems, and its recent investment sees eight sets of our T8DC mobile column lifts working alongside two of our older lifts.

"With no interconnecting cables, the T8DC is designed to be easily manoeuvred around the workshop, and it can be used to lift a wide range of buses and coaches.

"Flexibility and safety are crucial, especially when you are trying to retrofit 637 buses in such a short space of time.”