Vauxhall’s new British-built Vivaro ecoFLEX Euro 5 panel vans, with low CO2 emissions of just 180g/km and combined fuel economy of 40.9mpg, are in showrooms now.

Based on the short wheelbase standard roof models, but with some subtle specification changes, the Vivaro ecoFLEX could save you over £800* in three years versus the 198g/km/37.6mpg standard version. With its 90-litre fuel tank, the Vivaro ecoFLEX is capable of over 800 miles on one tank of fuel – that’s the equivalent of driving from Maidstone to Milan or from Bristol to Brussels and back.

These substantial benefits result from a range of green technology features including exhaust gas circulation cooling and optimised gear ratios. There’s also improved thermal management, low rolling resistance tyres and an aerodynamic kit.

For those wanting to save even more, Vauxhall offers Vivaro ecoFLEX Euro 5s equipped with a fixed speed limiter that yields CO2 levels as low as 174g/km and with combined fuel economy of up to 42.7mpg. Also for the first time there is an ecoFLEX version of the popular Vivaro 9-seater Combi for those who need to carry more than two passengers.

“The New Vivaro ecoFLEX Euro 5 gives our customers improved fuel economy and lower CO2s,” said Steve Bryant, Vauxhall’s Commercial Vehicle Brand Manager. “Fuel economy and green credentials are top priorities for our customers looking to reduce running costs and the carbon footprint of their vehicles or fleets.”

The best-selling Vivaro is top of its segment at retail with 3,531 registrations so far this year.

Vauxhall Commercial Vehicles was number one with retail customers in March and at year-to-date. In 2011, the Luton-based manufacturer had its best ever year at retail, selling more vans to private buyers than anyone else. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Vauxhall builds more commercial vehicles in the UK than any of its competitors.

*Based on 20,000 miles per annum calculated at £1.40/litre for diesel on the combined cycle.

Thompsons, the UK’s leading tipper bodybuilder, is now placing particular emphasis on remodelling its after-sales Service activities. Most noticeably, a number of new vans are now on the road sporting a cleaner, fresher, bolder, all-new ‘Service’ livery.

“Fundamentally, the level of Service we provide to our customers should reflect the quality of the business relationship that we want build with them” says director Simon Shields. “More than ever, Service is a key element of our growth. It reflects both our everyday capability as well as our commitment to the future. Put simply, our philosophy is that ‘Thompsons Service is Service is for Life’.”

With new vans based at Thompsons’ factories in Croydon and Blackburn as well as at sister company Charlton’s premises in Dover, Thompsons now offers a rapid response to vehicles requiring attention across all the UK’s main industrial areas, from England’s South Coast to the Scottish Central Belt.

“Because Thompsons bodybuilding is now a national activity, this gives us an immediate opportunity to offer a recognizably national Service capability as well” says Gary West, Thompsons Service Manager in Croydon.

Gary adds “In fact, Thompsons is the only UK tipper bodybuilder genuinely capable of providing this level of after-sales support.”

There are also two other factors where Thompsons’ Service capabilities clearly lead the field.

Firstly, Thompsons Service is available not just to customers buying Thompsons bodies, but to all tipper operators, anywhere in the UK, with vehicles of any make or age.

Secondly, Thompsons Service capabilities cover not just tippers, but also skiploaders, hookloaders, crane/grab trucks and platform bodies too.

In recent years, the range of bodies offered by Thompsons and Charlton has grown enormously, a range that now covers everything from the routine front end tipper through to hi-spec waste bodies, tipper grabs, highways vehicles, drawbar brick carriers and machinery carriers.

“Whilst it’s clear that we lead our industry with our product range, we also want to be recognised as the UK’s top bodybuilder for Service, too” says director Scott Burton. “After all”, he adds “a reputation for Service plays a key factor in both attracting new customers as well as securing repeat business in the future. In 2012, our aim is to really bring Thompsons Service to the fore.”

Fully supporting this latest marketing initiative, Thompsons Service will be making a strong presence at next month’s TIP-Ex Show – including having one of the latest Service vans on their stand!

Asset Alliance Ltd has signed a full contract hire deal with Willenhall based Midland Chilled Foods, confirming delivery of two 26 tonne Mercedes Benz Axor 2529L 6×2 sleeper chassis cab refrigerated vehicles in September 2012.

From their offices in Strathaven, Wolverhampton and Leeds, Asset Alliance deliver specialist commercial vehicle asset finance, contract hire and fleet management to businesses in the transport and logistics sector. They offer bespoke finance and contract hire solutions to meet the specific vehicle requirements of their customers, both for today and in the future, with consultancy being critical to the tender process.

Working closely with Mercedes Benz Trucks and the operations team at Midland Chilled Foods, Asset Alliance managed the replacement vehicle specification process from the outset, ensuring that the new vehicles will match the diverse requirements of one of the UK’s leading wholesalers, whilst delivering a product with greater longevity in service.

Ian Padley, Head of Contract Hire at Asset Alliance Ltd, commented: “Our relationship with Midland Chilled Foods started 20 months ago. We sat down with them and their service providers and agreed a deal that would see the existing vehicles to the end of their contracted life. This gave Asset Alliance the opportunity to show Midland Chilled Foods our capabilities in running fully maintained Contract Hire vehicles.

“Midland Chilled Foods provide the refrigerated bodies, the specification of which has evolved over many years to suit their operation, and Asset Alliance Ltd were flexible enough to work with the customer on this basis. Midland Chilled Foods is a progressive company that demands high levels of service from their suppliers and, as such, we are very pleased to have secured this new order extending our relationship for a further 5 years.”

Midland Chilled Foods offer a nationwide service to wholesalers supplying over 3500 products, sourced from around the world and distributed from two sites – Willenhall in the West Midlands and Basingstoke in the South.

John Collett, Operations Manager at Midland Chilled Foods , said: “We have been very pleased with the service we have received from Asset Alliance over the last two years. The fact that we have been able to retain the maintenance contract with Autorite [Willenhall] has been absolutely brilliant. We look forward to building on the relationship we have with Asset Alliance over the next five years with the replacement stock they are providing.”

For more information on Asset Alliance go to: http://www.assetallianceltd.com/

The impeccable reliability and impressive performance of a single Mercedes-Benz Sprinter convinced Millbrook Healthcare to make its first significant investments in vehicles bearing the three-pointed star.

The Southampton-based company has purchased 25 Long-bodied Sprinter 313CDIs from local dealer Pentagon Commercials – and it’s already planning to return for more before the end of the year.

Millbrook Healthcare works in partnership with numerous local authorities and primary care trusts. It provides a range of services including wheelchair repair and maintenance, community equipment and homecare products, continence supplies and telecare/telehealth installations, to help residents continue to live in their own homes.

The company operates 123 vans from a network of depots located through south and central England – its new Mercedes-Benz vehicles are based in Bedfordshire and Surrey.

Millbrook Healthcare acquired its first Sprinter, a Euro 4 311CDI model, three years ago, and ran it alongside its established supplier’s vans for comparison purposes.

“That Sprinter hasn’t missed a beat; we’ve not had a single issue,” confirmed Contracts Manager Gary Burnham. “What’s more, the drivers have definitely preferred it to our other vehicles, and it’s been more economical on fuel too.”

Having been impressed with the fuel-efficiency of its original 311CDI, Millbrook Healthcare can now look forward to even bigger savings from the Euro 5 model which has superseded it. That’s because as well as being cleaner – CO2 emissions are down by 13 per cent – the latest Sprinter 313CDI is also 15 per cent more economical, this improvement equating to an extra 4.5 miles per gallon.

Also key to the appeal of its new vans for Millbrook Healthcare was the market-leading reputation that the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, along with its Vito stablemate, enjoys for safety – both models come with an extensive list of standard safety features, including the Adaptive version of the ESP® electronic stability system, which adjusts its settings to take account of a vehicle’s changing load status.

Mr Burnham – who describes himself as “a big Mercedes-Benz fan” – continued: “We take our Duty of Care obligations to employees very seriously so safety was at the top of our list of priorities when we ordered these Sprinters.”

The new vans came with market-leading, three-year, unlimited mileage warranties, while Millbrook Healthcare has also signed-up to a three-year ServicePackage covering all labour, materials and lubricants required in routine servicing at an official Mercedes-Benz workshop.

“Pentagon were very helpful in arranging the ServicePackage, which fixes our costs and therefore allows us to budget with confidence,” added Mr Burnham. Millbrook Healthcare is a subsidiary of Millbrook Industries, which was formed in 1946 as a re-upholstery company. Still family-owned and managed, Millbrook Industries has annual sales worth approximately £53 million and some 450 employees.

FleetMatics, a leading global provider of fleet management solutions for commercial fleet vehicles, has published a white paper that explores the potential benefits that lie in the adoption of a GPS vehicle tracking system for field-service businesses. Entitled ‘Improved Customer Service Through GPS Vehicle Tracking for Field-Service Businesses’, the white paper can be downloaded from the Resources section of the FleetMatics website (www.fleetmatics.co.uk).

According to Aberdeen Group research of service and manufacturing professionals that use GPS-Based navigation tools, results indicate that efficient resource management via location tracking is incomplete without the complete view of all service resources. Having access to reports that go beyond the mere location of vehicles and detailed statistics that address actual vehicle activity, the FleetMatics white paper maintains, can go a long way towards improving fleet performance and customer service

Already, field-service businesses have GPS tracking technology to help them better manage their fleets. The white paper includes a brief case study of one of FleetMatics customers IQA Group, a utilities and electrical contracting company based in Paisley, Scotland. Since installing a adopted FleetMatics’ GPS vehicle tracking system into its fleet of 65 vehicles, Allen Freeney, IT and Marketing Coordinator for IQA Group, is quoted: “We’ve really seen a big improvement in our customer care.” In addition to improved customer service, IQA Group realised increased productivity, improved safety and reduced fuel consumption.

As field-service companies continue to look for new solutions for improved customer service performance, it becomes clear that the road to success is via a GPS vehicle tracking system that provides centralised management of service vehicles, real-time performance visibility, detailed reports that lead to real cost-cutting solutions, more motivated employees, and, perhaps most important of all, more satisfied customers.

Leading UK manufacturer of roof racks, bars and commercial vehicle accessories – Rhino Products – have branded two weeks of exhibition activity at two of Europe’s premier commercial vehicle shows a huge success.

The Rhino Products team have just returned from The CV Show at the NEC in Birmingham, and just days earlier had completed six days at the Bedrijfsauto2012 event at the RAI in Amsterdam.

Sales & Marketing Director for Rhino Products, Clive Boult says “Exhibiting at both of these events is crucial to our marketing plans. Bedrijfsauto2012 is exceptionally important as Europe and the Far East is an expanding market for us.”

Clive continues “This year, we’ve experienced high footfall at the events, which, combined with the networking opportunities with our valued existing customers and the chance to make new sales leads – which have been fantastic – means this is something we’re pleased to be a part of.”

The manufacturer took the opportunity to profile two new products at the events – the LadderStow and SafeStow3 – which were both exceptionally well received, alongside well-established products including the Delta Bars and SafeClamp. “We pride ourselves in being at the forefront of our industry; we develop and others tend to follow. These shows have been an excellent opportunity to highlight these new products – and seeing our competitors peeking from around the corner is always quite heart-warming.” contributes Steve Egerton, Rhino Products’ Managing Director.

“It’s been fantastic to be ‘out there’ meeting people, but now the hard work starts; continuing with our innovations, creating new opportunities, and preparing for our next set of exhibitions in late-summer. It’s all very exciting” concludes Steve.

The Rochdale depot for nationwide next day delivery network, APC Overnight, has purchased six new fuel-efficient Euro Stage 5, Ford Transit vans to support continued business growth. The long wheel base, high roof vans are complemented by a new specially designed Don Bur lifting deck trailer for trunking customers parcels to the National Sortation Centre near Wolverhampton, which is soon to be replaced by a new £14 million, 128,000 sq ft state of the art National Hub at Kingswood Lake Cannock.

APC Apex Logistics has been based locally in Rochdale for nearly 25 years and has been an active member of the APC network for more than 10 years. Throughout this time, the business has grown steadily by providing reliable, cost effective, overnight, nationwide parcel and pallet delivery services to local businesses large and small. Serviced from its Canalside Industrial Estate and Fishwick Street offices, Blue Chip customers include Zen Internet, Autolok Security Products, Casey’s Construction, Takeuchi MFG (UK) Ltd and Swedish Truck Parts Ltd.

“The new vans and Don Bur Double Deck Trailer carry the new APC Overnight livery to signify the reliability, capability and nationwide coverage we can offer local businesses from our Rochdale offices. Customers throughout the region benefit from a quality next day delivery service that reaches the whole of the UK via a network of more than 120 local depots. The investment in the new vehicles is a major step forward in improving our already class leading service and efficiency, and will benefit our existing and also potential new customers,” says Alastair Grimshaw, Operations Manager at APC Apex Logistics.

“The Best Satellite Navigation System Designed Specifically For Trucks Just Got Better!”

The number 1 sat nav designed specifically for trucks guides your vehicle safely avoiding low bridges, weight and width restrictions plus many more hazards across Europe.

This unique software will create a route based on the attributes of your particular vehicle. Simply input the size and weight, plus the type of load if applicable and Snooper’s Truckmate Pro software will calculate a safe, truck friendly route highlighting roadside sites offering AdBlue® pump facilities .

Commercial vehicles can quickly and easily refill their AdBlue® tanks, from sites which have weights and measured approved AdBlue® pump facilities. Therefore, AdBlue® retail sites from Air1® are now included on Truckmate, which is the only sat nav unit to include this essential product finding data.

Paul Norman, Yara’s Market Manager UK & Ireland – Air1® said “Having built a comprehensive AdBlue® forecourt network which continues to grow, Yara recognise the need for fleets and drivers to be able to locate their Air1® sites. It has been an ambition for some time to make them available on sat nav systems, so the opportunity to work with Snooper with sites detailed on their Truckmate system has been the perfect solution. Air1® welcome this initiative that compliments existing AdBlue® location finders.”

“We have worked with some of the UK’s largest fleets as well as owner drivers, developing Truckmate to include features specifically aimed at professional commercial vehicle drivers. The addition of AdBlue® sites from Air1® is one such example. We are delighted to partner with such a key supplier and understand the importance of being able to locate a reliable and quality source of AdBlue® for drivers”, stated Jason Ballard, Managing Director of Performance Products, manufacturers of Truckmate.

Truckmate Pro now also includes Lane Guidance, Junction View and MY-SPEED® speed limit data, an improved routing algorithm and the latest street level mapping from NAVTEQ, the leading map provider.