NATIONWIDE £4.2 MILLION INVESTMENT DELIVERS SUPERIOR SERVICE
Nationwide Access has invested £4.2 million in new delivery vehicles to service its fleet of self-propelled boom and scissor lifts. The 58 new vehicles replace an existing fleet with an average age of five years. They will be distributed throughout the Nationwide depot network from Cornwall to Aberdeen.
The new vehicles are based on DAF Cf75-310 chassis cabs supplied by Chatfields of West Yorkshire, with bespoke bodies manufactured by Nottinghamshire-based Shawtrack Services.
The investment comes after Nationwide Access consulted its customers and created a user-group of drivers and transport managers to understand the common problems that occur when moving machinery.
"Once we had identified the exact needs of both our drivers and the customers we spoke to a number of suppliers, but found that DAF and Shawtrack really understood our requirements" says Mike Hobson, Nationwide Transport Manager.
With around 450 different models of access platform in the Nationwide fleet, delivery drivers can find themselves carrying a different combination of machines each day. To give the drivers more accurate information on loadings and improve the weight distribution of the vehicles Shawtrack included weighing pads within the body and DAF made changes to the front axle configuration.
Each of the new vehicles will be fitted with a satellite-navigation tracking system which uses GPS to track the movement of the vehicle. The system is very similar to that used by parcel couriers to track deliveries and will allow Nationwide to identify each vehicle's location and progress at any time. Nationwide believes this type of tracking system has never before been used in the access hire industry.
"This will be a huge benefit not only for us, but also for our customers", says Mr Hobson. "We operate the only guaranteed delivery offering in the hire industry and this instant vehicle tracking information will give us more control over deliveries and ensure we can easily keep our customers informed of the vehicles progress.
Mr Hobson says the new fleet will have a major impact on customer service. "Our existing fleet has an average age of five years and each one does about 100,000 miles a year. With this sort of mileage, repair and maintenance starts to feature very prominently after five years.
"Replacing this fleet with brand new vehicles means we can offer improved reliability and we estimate vehicle downtime will fall by as much as 15 per cent", he adds.
The first of the 58 new vehicles is scheduled for delivery early next month with the remainder being delivered in phases through to July.
