Low-riding Mercedes-Benz Actros lifts TRUCKINGBY to new heights

Actros

Low-riding Mercedes-Benz Actros lifts TRUCKINGBY to new heights.

Fast-growing live event and exhibitions transport specialist TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley has added a stunning new flagship to its high-profile fleet, a low-framed, 26-tonne Mercedes-Benz rigid with range-topping GigaSpace cab.


The Actros 2543 LnR was supplied by Dealer Northside Truck & Van and is a real head-turner in its distinctive red TRUCKINGBY livery, with chrome grille, light bars top and bottom, air horns and alloy wheels. Its SB Components ‘mega-cube’ box body is 9.0 metres long and with its 4.0-metre roof height offers a volume capacity of 62.7m³. It is fitted with a 1,500 kg Dhollandia tuckaway tail-lift.

Founded in July 2014, TRUCKINGBY Brian Yeardley is a division of European logistics operator Brian Yeardley Continental. The family-owned company is based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, and has a depot in Ashford, Kent. It runs a Mercedes-Benz-dominated fleet of 53 trucks, the majority of them 4x2 tractor units; a further 28 vehicles, most of which also wear three-pointed stars, are dedicated to its live events division.

Recalling the launch of TRUCKINGBY, Brian Yeardley Managing Director Kevin Hopper said: “We run a very successful, £13-million European cargo business, but were looking for opportunities to expand, just as we did when we moved heavily into the ADR chemical market on the general side some years ago. We did our market research and concluded that our strong commitments to customer service and the promotion of a quality brand image meant the exhibitions and entertainment sector represented a perfect fit.

“We’ve invested £1.8 million in new equipment to make a strong statement that TRUCKINGBY is a serious player in the live event trucking business and is here to stay. It has already started to pay off in a big way… having achieved £1.2 million turnover in our first full year’s trading (2015), we’re now comfortably ahead of the £2.5 million we were projecting for 2016.”


The roll call of big name acts supported by TRUCKINGBY over recent months includes the likes of Tom Jones, Peter Kay, Rod Stewart and Simply Red, while its trucks were also on duty at festivals across the UK and Europe, including a very wet and muddy Glastonbury. The new division has also worked on the EURO 2016 football championships in France, and Google Cannes, while other corporate assignments have seen its vehicles touring in Croatia, Poland, Scandinavia and even the Shetland Isles.

Mr Hopper highlights the reliability, safety and fuel-efficiency of its Mercedes-Benz trucks as a major factor behind the company’s success. He even posted a tweet last month (June), in which he announced: “We now run over 30 Mercedes trucks and our (Brian Yeardley) fleet average has risen since we started running them in 2014 from 8.6 mpg to, last month, 10.26 mpg. Looking forward to replacing other brands with Mercedes when they come of age and are paid for. Worth noting other brands are still returning 8.5 to 8.7 mpg, pulling the average down.”


An enthusiastic proponent of Mercedes-Benz technology – as well as using FleetBoard telematics, Brian Yeardley specifies its vehicles with optional, fuel-saving Predictive Powertrain Control systems – Mr Hopper observed: “We operate in a highly competitive market in the general cargo sector and are now breaking into the live events industry. Having the edge is what makes the difference so running efficiently has never been more important, and our Mercedes-Benz trucks play a big part in helping us to do this.”

Brian Yeardley also took delivery from Northside late last year of six low-riding Actros 1848 LnR tractor units, which pull mega-cube trailers. They were among the first UK-registered vehicles to be powered by the second-generation version of the 12.8-litre, six-cylinder OM471 engine, which features a raft of improvements, including updated turbochargers and revised injection systems, designed to boost fuel economy.

“The new engine is fantastic,” enthused Mr Hopper. “Those six trucks are returning between 11 and 12 mpg on long, pan-European journeys, which puts them a mile and more ahead of our previous Actros, and way clear of our Swedish- and Dutch-brand trucks, none of which get close to double figures.”



Brian Yeardley also specifies its Mercedes-Benz vehicles with optional Classic Safety Packs which include Active Brake Assist 3, an autonomous system that far exceeds the requirements of current legislation, as well as Proximity Control Assist and Driver’s airbags.

Mr Hopper recalled an accident in Germany involving one of the company’s Actros. “The traffic was at a standstill and our vehicle was at the back of a line of 12 trucks when another, whose driver is thought to have fallen asleep at the wheel, slammed into the back of them. That driver was killed instantly, and so was the driver of the truck in front of ours. But although his Actros was a write-off, my guy climbed out of the Mercedes-Benz cab with nothing worse than a slight scratch on his head. You can’t put a price on that level of built-in safety.”

He continued: “I believe that as a business we are responsible not only to our drivers to make sure we offer them the safest and most secure working environment we can afford, but also to their families. When we buy trucks now it’s not all about the economics, it’s about driver safety as well. Mercedes-Benz ticks all the boxes.”  

Mr Hopper added: “Our trucks travel all over Europe and clock-up massive mileages so I need outstanding reliability and industry-leading back-up. All of our Mercedes-Benz trucks are on Repair and Maintenance Contracts with full European cover. We have very few issues but any that do crop up are invariably dealt with quickly and efficiently by Mercedes-Benz, which appreciates the fundamental importance of minimising downtime.

 “I came into the transport business when I was 21 and I’m 58 now, and I can honestly say that I’ve never worked with a manufacturer that has such a strong commitment to its customers, and to the development of its product. When they say ‘Trucks you can trust, people you can trust’, they really mean it. That’s why, going forward, we’ll only be buying Mercedes-Benz trucks.”

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