Froneri Schöller distributes ice cream using their own fleet of Actros trucks

The ice age was all about the history of the earth and spanned unimaginably long periods of time. The ice cream season, however, conjures up images of summer and tasty treats on a terrace or next to the pool. Be it on sticks, in cornets or in a sundae dish: the Germans love ice cream! Each year, the ice-cold treat tempts the average German into eating around eight litres – this unit is the industry's measure of the love of ice cream. Whether it rains all summer long or whether there's a financial crash, none of that plays a role: the figures have hardly changed since the beginning of the millennium – the ice cream season remains the ice cream season!

A large portion of the yearly demand is produced at the Froneri Schöller plant in Uelzen in Germany's Lower Saxony region. The first half of the relatively young business with its double name is the result of two big moves on the ice cream market: 2002 saw Schöller taken over by Nestlé. "In October 2016, Nestlé and the British manufacturer Richmond & Roncadin founded the Froneri joint venture and, among other things, merged their respective ice cream businesses," explains Uwe Betz, Head of Transport Management and thus the man responsible for getting ice cream onto our streets.

He is the fleet manager at Froneri Schöller and thus responsible for all technical requirements pertaining to the vehicle fleet. Uwe Betz adds: "As a manufacturer of so-called 'fast-moving consumer goods', sticking to the customers' delivery windows – which incidentally are getting tighter year in, year out – is of utmost importance to us. There should be as little vehicle downtime as possible – what helps us here is the complete package from Mercedes-Benz."

A central characteristic of this complete package for fleet managers is the high reliability of the trucks. However, should there ever be a defect, the comprehensive service network from Mercedes-Benz means that rapid and reliable support is on hand. "We of course also look at economic aspects: be that consumption, residual value or other modalities as part of the vehicle return at the end of the leasing contract. All in all, according to Willibald Blank: "Over the decades, we've established a very good partnership".

A partnership which, in the current decade, has also led to the company taking part in four rounds of driver testing with the latest respective engine generations for the Actros. Most recently, Froneri Schöller tested the compact second-generation OM 470 engine at the beginning of 2016. "As part of this, it was clear that its maximum output of 315 kW is already available at 1600 rpm instead of at 1800 rpm as with the predecessor. That offers better driving comfort. The consumption is also noticeably lower." Since the tests, 19 Actros trucks with the new engine have been added to the fleet.