The Henderson Group, which owns a variety of supermarket franchises in Northern Ireland, has added 29 Renault trucks to its fleet.
Henderson Group, which owns the Spar, Eurospar, ViVO, ViVOXTRA and ViVO Essentials franchises in Northern Ireland, has taken on 15 Renault Range T460s and 14 Range D18s. This continues Henderson Group’s strategy to standardise its fleet around two core brands.
Henderson Group’s group fleet engineer, David McCracken, said: “In 2015 we operated a mixed fleet of vehicles and it was decided a key objective would be to standardise to perhaps two core brands. We introduced the Range T and D in 2015 with seven Range T460 6x2s and a Range D26 fridge and we haven’t looked back. Renault Trucks are now one of our preferred suppliers and business partners. We operate some 70 of their vehicles across our various divisions and forecast further investment in the Renault product by the end of 2020.”
Previously positive experiences, vehicle reliability and driver acceptance were key factors in the company’s decision to add more Renault Trucks to the fleet. “Driver acceptance of Renault Trucks has been 100%; it’s exceptional,” said McCracken.
“We’ve recently introduced two flagship Range T Highs as a driver retention tool for long-serving employees with the Range T being the preferred choice for most of our drivers.”
The new T Ranges work on regional distribution multi-drops across the Northern Ireland operation. “The trucks are doing around 70 runs a day both ambient and chilled and the Range T fits the bill perfectly and offers the best compromise in terms of reliability, MPG, size of cab and driver appeal,” said McCracken.
The 26T Range Ds are working on similar operations within the wholesale division and the 18T Range Ds on foodservice business, delivering daily to hotels, restaurants, schools and other public services across the North and South of Ireland. “The specifications of the Range D, including the reduced turning circle and compact cab, make it perfect for our wholesale and foodservice operations and allows us to access even the tightest of locations,” explained McCracken.
The Range Ts have been supplied on a four-year contract hire deal through BRS Ltd with the Range Ds being a capital purchase. “The Henderson Group is very committed to reducing its carbon footprint,” said McCracken. “To ensure that we have some of the most modern and environmentally friendly trucks available, we currently update our tractor units every four years and rigids every seven years but we are constantly reviewing this and may reduce this even further as new technology is introduced in the future.”
Maintenance for the Henderson Group vehicles is carried out by local dealer Diamond Trucks, which also supplied the trucks to the company.
