http://www.truckingmag.co.uk August 2019 TRUCKING 11F
amily-owned James Hall &
Co has added a new Gray &
Adams refrigerated trailer to
its fleet.
The Preston-based operator is a
primary wholesaler to SPAR
retailers throughout the north of
England, and distributes to more
than 600 stores. Its new 11.4 m
urban double-deck trailer is built on
a tandem-axle ‘wheel box’ chassis,
employs a Thermo King Spectrum
multi-temperature refrigeration
system, and is fitted with a
hydraulically tilting 1500 kg
Dhollandia column tail-lift.
Using a key fob, the driver can
open and close its JR Industries’
electric shutter door quickly and
easily during deliveries – and the
system has proven so useful that
the operator now specs it as a
matter of course.
A Gray & Adams customer for
more than 20 years, James Hall &
Co operates from a purpose-built
head office and distribution centre
overlooking Junction 31a of the
M6. It runs approximately 70
vehicles built by Gray & Adams: as
well as other 11.4 m urban
double-deck trailers, the line-up
includes 13.6 m single- and
double-deck trailers, rigid trucks,
and dry freight trailers.
“By delivering fresh food to store
six days a week, we allow our
retailers to improve product
availability and maximise product
life, order hundreds of fresh items
in small volumes, control wasteSPAR distributor specs new
urban semi-trailer
and react to changes in demand,”
said James Hall & Co fleet
engineering manager, Ian Farnworth.
“We maintain an excellent
distribution service level of 99 per
cent, and that is only possible
because we use the finest transport
equipment. Crucially, while other
manufacturers struggle to provide
anything beyond an ‘off the peg’
product, Gray & Adams will design
and build bespoke trailers and truck
bodies which are perfectly tailored to
our needs.
“The electric shutter door, which is
still a relatively new concept for us,
has proved very popular with our
drivers from a practicality point of
view,” he added. “Our primary
motivation in introducing this system
was to improve health and safety, by
relieving colleagues of the hassle of
having to bend down to open the
doors manually.
“But there’s an additional benefit
in the form of enhanced security,
because it restricts the amount of
time the door remains open during
deliveries,” Farnworth concluded.MP Moran rallies 100%
Renault fleet
L
ondon-based builders and
plumbers merchants, MP
Moran and Sons Ltd, has
revealed its entire fleet from
3.5- to 44-tonnes is now made
up of Renaults following the
recent addition of 17 vehicles
from Renault Trucks Chiltern.
The latest vehicles to join the
fleet include three Range D7.5 4x
dropsides, four Range D12 4x
dropsides with rear-mounted Fassi
F85B cranes, seven 26-tonne
Range C320 2.3 m 6x2 dropsides
with rear-mounted Fassi F135A
cranes, a 3.5-tonne Master 3T5C
curtainsider, and two Used Range
T460 6x2 tractor units.
Vehicle selection was based on
the minimal downtime of the fleet’s
existing Renault trucks, together
with excellent service from local
dealer, Renault Trucks Chiltern.
“From zero Renault trucks in
2010 to 25 LGV and 15 Masters in
2019, the company has made animpressive mark, with minimal
downtime a crucial factor in our
decision,” said Martin Moran,
purchasing director, MP Moran
and Sons. “We need vehicles that
can go everywhere and with the
new trucks we can get into pretty
much every site in town as they
are fully compliant.
“As well as being more efficient,
we wanted to make sure all our
vehicles were Euro 6 compliant for
financial reasons. All trucks
entering the congestion zone now
face a £100-a-day charge pre-paid
or £500 a day, 24 hours, seven
days a week if they are not the
latest Euro 6 models. Most of our
work is in and around London, so
it was crucial we were compliant
before this deadline.”
MP Moran is a FORS Gold
member and says safety is an
“absolute priority”, so its new
trucks are fitted with vision doors,
cameras and audible sensors.I
nternational transport and
logistics haulier for the
entertainment and events
industry, Fly By Nite, has added
another five DAF XF 480 FT
low-deck tractor units to its
high-profile fleet.
The 4x2 trucks, all fleet additions,
join around 160 tractors and rigids of
which over 75 per cent are now DAF,
based at the Fly By Nite centre of
operations in Redditch.
The centre is also home to a fleet
of 150 flat-floor Megacube box and
curtainside trailers.
“This business is all about
reliability,” said transport manager,
Richard Brown. “We can’t phone up
a major star’s production manager
and say, ‘We’re terribly sorry, we’re
running a day or two late’. It’s a
business where failure simply isn’t an
option – so we don’t fail!
“It’s why we focus on premium
brands of truck, and of those weNew XFs set the stage for Fly By Nite
be gone for weeks at a time, we give
them the best cabs and all the best
in-cab equipment we can.”
Outside, the new DAFs have also
been fitted with forward and
near-side cameras, as well as
audible turning warnings. Though
very little of the operator’s work is
London-centred, the specification
comfortably fits the proposed SafeSystem Permit requirements.
Fly By Nite has also favoured
manual gearboxes on the majority of
its DAFs over the years. Conditions
getting on and off festival and other
sites can be so difficult that
“automated boxes could possibly be
a hindrance”, Brown said.
“We’ve run very successfully like
this for years, though we are
experimenting with a couple of 530
DAF XFs on hire, and the drivers are
very happy with latest TraXon
automated ’box in those, so we might
change our minds going forward.”
Despite the often arduous type of
work, fuel economy shows a return
of close to 10 mpg. The operator
monitors it with a telematics package
that also looks at vehicle and driver
performance. This has also proved a
bonus among their customers, who
often log in to see just where the trucks,
loaded with their precious stage sets,
lighting etc, are progressing.ABOVE Electric shutter door was
added to boost driver health & safetyhave opted heavily in favour of DAF.
They are just very good products,
and, if we should need support, DAF
back-up across Europe is great.
“Then, the roominess and comfort
of the Super Space Cabs make them
a great favourite with our drivers –
and our drivers are important to us, a
vital part of making sure the show
always goes on. Because they canOperator still specs manual
gearboxes as standard for
tackling tricky show sitesLondon operator is a
FORS Gold member