The conquest deal was awarded following a competitive tender process involving three providers and saw Fraikin chosen for the four-year, full-service contract hire agreement due to its ability to efficiently manage the ownership, financing, compliance and maintenance of a new seven-strong fleet.
The new vehicles will carry out deliveries of ambient, chilled and frozen produce across Scotland and northern England, and comprise six new refrigerated 3.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans and one refrigerated 7.2-tonne Iveco Daily. All vehicles will be supplied in William Sword livery.
The new assets represent like-for-like equivalents for the previous fleet, while offering improved performance, driver comfort and efficiency, as well as meeting the stringent Euro VI emissions standard.
The local Fraikin branch in Bellshill will carry out all safety inspections, servicing and tyre management of the new light commercials, as well as maintaining the Carrier Transicold Xarios refrigeration systems – all on a collection and delivery basis.
William Sword also has access to the Fraikinview web portal, enabling the firm to monitor the maintenance cycle of its vehicles.
William Sword managing director Douglas Sword said: “We opted for Fraikin because they understood precisely what we required, tailoring an agreement that best suited our business. We know we can rely on them to keep our vehicles on the road when we need them, alleviating unnecessary pressures on our team and enabling us to focus on our core business.
“The full-service deal also offers us the most cost-effective way of operating our fleet. Aside from fuel and vehicle insurance, our monthly vehicle operating costs are nailed down, so we know exactly how much to budget for the duration of the contract.”
