Three more Mercedes-Benz CharterWay years for BSB Transport
So impressed was BSB Transport with its first experience of Mercedes-Benz CharterWay contract hire that when the three-year deal came to an end it had no hesitation in signing-up once again.
The Immingham-based operator has stood down its first 10 Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units and replaced them on a like-for-like basis with 10 more, which were supplied by local dealer H&L Garages.
Like their predecessors, the new trucks are all Actros 2546 MegaSpace models. However, the latest also came with DaimlerFleetBoard telematics systems – a current offer means that customers contract hiring new Actros and Axor X tractor units through Mercedes-Benz CharterWay can get this industry-leading hardware supplied and fitted, and three months’ vehicle management services provided, at no extra cost*.
BSB Transport was founded in 1996 by directors Ralph Allen and John Burns-Salmond – both are ex-drivers who still get behind the wheel for occasional relief shifts. Their company moves shipping containers nationwide and occasionally onto the Continent, as well as undertaking timber and paper distribution.
BSB has, for some years, relied on a comprehensive mapping system to help manage the fleet. “But with its additional functionality and ability to provide comprehensive and easily-accessed data on driver and vehicle performance, Daimler FleetBoard has taken us to a new level,” confirmed John Burns-Salmond. “The new systems went ‘live’ at the beginning of January and we’re delighted with all of the extra management information that is now readily to hand.”
As with its previous Actros, BSB Transport’s new trucks are being serviced in H&L Garages’ South Killingholme workshops. And once again, the operator has added tyre cover to its three-year deal with Mercedes-Benz CharterWay, a commercial vehicle brand of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
Ralph Allen explained: “We like contract hire as a concept because our costs are fixed and we can budget with confidence, knowing there are no nasty surprises around the corner. But service levels are also of paramount importance – and between them our Mercedes-Benz CharterWay Client Service Manager Bob Elliott and H&L Garages give us all the support we need.”
BSB Transport bought its first couple of Mercedes-Benz Actros from H&L Garages Truck Sales Executive Keith Horsewood in 2004, before switching to contract hire in 2007. “The 10 trucks we took on at that point have been instrumental in helping us through the horrendous trading conditions of the last couple of years,” added John Burns-Salmond.
“We’re certainly not afraid of new ideas and new technology, as our renewed commitment to the state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Actros demonstrates,” he continued. “But we also like to think of ourselves as an old-fashioned general haulage company, with all that this implies in terms of service and the commitments that Ralph and I give personally to our customers.”
