Going
for growth
Strong growth that has seen its plant fleet double in size to 1,000 items
in just five years, has prompted long-standing Mercedes truck operator
Fork Rent to invest in four new tractor units.
The
Ipswich-based company’s latest Mercedes Actros 2546s have high-roofed
Long Distance sleeper cabs and arrived via Orwell Truck & Van. They
replace three Actros that have been stood down after three years’
reliable and fuel-efficient service.
Trudi Nicholls, a Director in the family firm, says: “Business has
been very buoyant for some time now, so we’ve added an extra truck
to help us meet the demand that we’re seeing from customers all
over the country.”
Fork Rent’s new Actros are working with low-loader trailers and
used to deliver large items of plant, such as backhoe loaders, telescopic
handlers and excavators.
For more than 40 years Fork Rent has provided plant and vehicles for rent
to local authorities, house builders and civil engineering firms throughout
East Anglia and Essex. Today, though, it is also becoming the first-choice
supplier for a growing number of major construction groups operating nationwide.
Meanwhile, sister company Redi-Hire offers a fleet of 150 trucks and vans
for spot hire and longer-term rental, 30 of them Mercedes.
“Our new Actros will each average about 100,000km a year and have
been very well received by our drivers, who appreciate their comfortable,
well-appointed cabs,” Trudi Nicholls continues.
Like those they have replaced, the new tractors will be serviced under
three-year Mercedes-Benz repair and maintenance contracts in Orwell’s
Ipswich workshop.
“We have an excellent relationship with the dealer,” she confirms.
“They are very friendly, professional people to deal with, and always
conscious of the ‘real world’ pressures on operators such
as ourselves.”
Fork Rent also operates a Mercedes Sprinter service van and still keeps
an ageing 7.5-tonne Mercedes 814 as a back-up vehicle.