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Mercedes-Benz Arocs goes to waste for GD Environmental

29th July 2014 Print
GD Environmental

Fast-growing waste management specialist GD Environmental Services is running its first examples from the all-new Mercedes-Benz Arocs truck range.

The Newport-based operator has already commissioned two new trucks, a 26-tonne Arocs 2540L and an 18-tonne 1824K, from local Dealer Euro Commercials (South Wales). Two more – a second Arocs 2540L and a 32-tonne Arocs 3240K – are due to enter service in September.

The first of the six-wheelers featured on the stand of bodybuilder Fuller Tankers at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show. It has a rear-steer axle for enhanced manoeuvrability and is fitted with a 3,200-gallon vacuum tank for sludge removal.

The four-wheeler, meanwhile, is equipped with Hyva skip-loading gear. It is now servicing the Carmathenshire region, following GD Environmental’s acquisition of Llanelli-based Skip Solutions in March.

The second 6x2 chassis is also being bodied by Fuller Tankers at its factory in Chepstow. Specified for culvert and large diameter sewer cleaning, this vehicle will be fitted with a 3,000-gallon tank, 2,000 gallons of which will be used to carry clean water, and a high-performance pump capable of jetting 90 gallons per minute.

The 8x4 Arocs 3240K will complete the quartet. Fitted with Hyvalift 32 hook-loading equipment and an auto sheeting system at Hyva’s production facility in Trafford Park, Manchester, it will be capable of handling roll-on/roll-off eurobins with capacities of up to 50 cubic yards.

All four new trucks are being purchased with funding support from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.

GD Environmental offers a comprehensive portfolio of services covering the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of all forms of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, for domestic and commercial customers. The company’s turnover has grown by 35% in each of the last three years, and it is projecting a similar result this year.

To meet soaring demand GD Environmental recently invested some £1.5 million on a new waste transfer, recycling and pioneering water treatment facility in Newport. It can process in excess of 75,000 tonnes of waste per year, more than 90% of which is recycled.

Euro Commercials has been making steady inroads into the GD Environmental fleet – by September, 15 of the operator’s 37 trucks will wear three-pointed stars.

Managing Director Mathew Roderick confirms: “Mercedes-Benz is now one of our preferred truck brands. Its vehicles give us the reliability and longevity that we need, while the ‘whole life’ costs of operation are very competitive and the after sales back-up is first class.”

He continues: “Our success over recent years owes much to the quality of our customer service. If one of our construction company clients needs a skip, or a drain survey, then they invariably need it right now. So our reputation rests on our being able to meet that level of demand, and experience has proved that with Mercedes-Benz we’re in safe hands.”
Mike Underwood, GD Environmental’s recently appointed General Manager (West), has taken on responsibility for the day-to-day management of the fleet. “First impressions of the new Arocs are very positive,” says Mr Underwood, who began his career in 1973 as a 15-year-old apprentice, with Hughes Haulage, of Llanelli. He spent the last 25 years working for Biffa, 14 of them as a Regional Fleet Engineer for Biffa.

“The new Arocs looks like a pretty decent product and I know from my previous role that we’ll get the service we need from Mercedes-Benz.”

Available in a huge number of variants, the muscular Arocs range comprises tractors and four-, six- and eight-wheeled rigids, with gross weights from 18 to 250 tonnes. All combine previously unseen levels of performance and efficiency, with state-of-the-art Euro VI engines that offer mpg savings of up to 5% compared to equivalent, outgoing models. AdBlue consumption, meanwhile, is reduced by as much as 40%.

For more information, visit gd-environmental.co.uk.

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GD Environmental