A major fleet operator needs the right gear to get
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loads to their destinations. David Taylor reports on White Arrow Express's decision to buy Transporter Engineering trailers—a move that highlights the adage that you get what you pay for...
Having a customer like White Arrow Express would gladden the heart of any trailer manufacturer. It loves your product; it places a nice big order every time you launch a model; it considers your admittedly high prices to be excellent value and it likes telling other people what a great trailer you make.
The staff at Transporter Engineering are smiling— also because other people like their products—and they wouldn't have won the Specials category of the CM Trailer of the Year Awards if they didn't make a damn good trailer. The unit is the Plus-9 Super semi-trailer, the top-of-therange vehicle transporter semi. It's a highly versatile piece of kit which will carry up to 13 vehicles on three decks. Its biggest selling point is that any combination of car, van or light CV can be accommodated, allowing infinitely variable full loads every time.
This is just the ticket for White Arrow Express, the distribution subsidiary of Great Universal Stores. It is Britain's second biggest parcels carrier after Parcelforce, delivering too million parcels a year. But what's that got to do with vehicle transporters?
White Arrow also has about 7,000 vehicles—company cars and commercials—leased to customers throughout the UK. This business is serviced by White Arrow's vehicle logistics division which also does a lot of work for ; third party customers—names such as AEG, GE Capital, Toyota, u
. and Vauxhall Motors. So it needs ,..
12 vehide transporters-37 of them. .E' "We've been buying new equip,
E ment from Transporter Engineering
,..,.. for about five years— since it E started," says Martin McAuly, E. commercial account manager at
the Norton, Worcestershire-based vehicle logistics division of White Arrow.
The fleet is made up almost exclusively of Transporter Engineering units. Those that aren't from the Essex-based manufacturer are the older Hoynor trailers. "But Transporter Engineering started life when Hoynor went bust and some of the management set up their own business, so really we've got continuity in the fleet," says McAuly.
Despite its single marque, there's plenty of variety in White Arrow's transporter fleet. Most of Transporter Engineering's product range is represented, both drawbars and semi-trailers. "We've probably taken every single new model from them", says McAuly, "and we'll probably take some of the new drawbars they're about to launch later this year."
White Arrow is likely to buy six transporters this year, two of which will be the new drawbar model. It's a pretty safe bet that the additions will be from TE. "We have leased other trailers and had demonstrators from other manufacturers, but they haven't shown the flexibility of the TE models. That's one of the things we like about the firm—it's willing to be flexible, to address our concerns," says McAuly.
He's more than happy to put his mouth where his firm's money is and sing Transporter Engineering's praises: "You can spot a TE trailer straight away. It's hard to say what marks them out except that the quality is just superb. All its transporters are built like tanks. And it's not rocket science—it's just good solid traditional engineering. Plus, of course, they're made in England," says McAuly. This comes at a price, though. McAuly stresses that you don't buy a TE trailer if you want to make a quick buck: "It is a premium product, and our new Plus 9 Super will have to work for 15 years to cover our investment. Bear in mind that a straightforward box is D7,000—this is about three times that price, so there's a long payback period."
The transporters are hauled by Iveco tractors, mostly 35ohp EuroTechs. "Most of the transporters use sleeper cabs. The parcel carriers are mostly day-cabs," explains McAuly. "We are an Iveco customer of long-standing," he adds.
Vehicle logistics became a division in its own right 11 years ago, when it started working for thirdparty clients. Today the transporters operate from Bedford, Nottingham and from the main depot in Worcester. The parcels operation has 43 UK depots.
The division carries only used cars. "Essentially moving end-ofcontract cars and vans to or from refurbishment centres," says McAuly. "We're probably moving about 130,000 units a year—it's a big market," he says.
It's also a market to which Transporter Engineering's Plus 9 Super is nicely suited. "Versatility is its strong point," says David Weller, UK sales manager for Transporter Engineering. 'It is what most people want and with this model you can employ a great number of different load patterns," he adds. The Plus 9 Super's first-stage ramp between the top and intermediate deck allows you to vary the vehicle spacings to load the trailer. The Plus 9 Super is also the UK's first homegrown 13-car transporter, boasts Weller.
"It's a real benefit to people like us, who are carrying lots of different models on the same transporter," says McAuly. "It's also quick to load and unload."
Like all transporter operators, White Arrow recognises the importance of employing good drivers—loading and unloading a car transporter is not a job for a greenhorn, however skilled a driver. McAuly estimates it costs White Arrow about i5,000 to train each driver just to operate the trailer—though admittedly that includes the cost of damage to the cars while the driver's still at the bottom of the learning curve.
Clearly, it's a price White Arrow's comfortable with. But then, if the firm didn't believe in paying a fair price for a premium product, then presumably it wouldn't be running a fleet of transporters as costly as Transporter Engineering's.