The first trucks to wear the company’s recently updated livery are being assigned to its rental fleet of around 1,000 vehicles. This comprises everything from vans through to 44-tonne tractor units, and includes specialist equipment such as dropsiders with cranes, and refrigerated trucks and vans.
Business users can hire these vehicles by the day. There's also a longer-term solution in the form of the Fraikin Xtend service, which is designed to offer both competitive pricing and a flexible arrangement.
Crucially, the rental fleet also supports Fraikin’s growing customer base – the company owns another 4,500 vehicles which are being operated by customers through full-service contract hire agreements.
Fraikin’s new 7.5 tonne Ategos are all 816 models with S day cabs, 160PS engines and six-speed manual gearboxes. Economy is boosted and emissions reduced by the standard-fit MSS (Motor Stop Start) system, which switches off the engine whenever the vehicle is in neutral and stationary for over three seconds – for example in heavy traffic or at lights – then automatically restarts it as soon as the driver depresses the clutch.
The trucks’ box bodies, meanwhile, are supplied by JC Payne, of Aldridge, West Midlands, which also fitted their Dhollandia 1.0-tonne column tail lifts.
It is the first time in recent years that Fraikin has ordered Mercedes-Benz trucks in such numbers for its rental fleet. Head of procurement & supply chain Nick Solomon explained: ‘We have a lot of experience of the Mercedes-Benz product and the 7.5-tonne Atego certainly offers the performance, fuel economy, payload and exceptional levels of driver comfort that our customers look for in a rental truck.
‘From an owner’s point of view the whole-life costs over the minimum five years that we’ll run these vehicles are also highly attractive. The Mercedes-Benz image and reputation is very high and, we believe, has close synergies with our own brand.’