Braehead Foods had previously relied exclusively on Sprinter panel vans and runs a fleet of 22, which deliver to customers across Scotland and beyond. However, the new vehicles offer significantly more volume, which also means the load area can be divided into two practical compartments.
“Demand for our fine food and game is growing, and as well as our traditional fresh items we’re also generating increased sales of frozen products,” explained transport manager Warren Costello. “The move to box-bodied vans has allowed us to introduce freezer compartments, without losing too much capacity in the chilled sections we use to carry fresh food.
“The first two Sprinters we trialled with this configuration have been a great success. Each carries 20 crates more than a standard van, an increase of approximately 20%, which makes planning our delivery runs much easier.”
As with their predecessors the new Sprinter 313 CDIs were supplied by dealer Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Ayr. Their aerodynamic Slipstream insulated bodies are by Solomon Commercials, of Rossendale, Lancashire, and fitted with Thermo King refrigeration units.
Costello continued: “While we were open to changing the specification of our vehicles, we were also determined to retain the outstanding reliability that we’ve come to expect from our Sprinters, and the top-quality support we receive from our local dealer.
“We deliver to some very remote locations so we need to know that we can depend on our vehicles to reach these destinations. Our Sprinters have never let us down, while they’re also impressively fuel-efficient, offer very high safety standards and popular with our drivers.”
