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Express success
Page 135
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There is a British-based express haulage company investing millions of pounds right now to make its fleet 100% Pegaso.
What is it called, what does it do and why is it spending so much?
WORDS: rourioo MORRISON PICTURES: LAWRENCE KIELY ABournemouth-based express freight carrier, run by a Frenchman, has bought Europe's biggest order of Troner trucks, built in Spain by Seddon Atkinson's parent Pegaso. GB Express has taken delivery of 40 38-tonne Ironer TXs and will add another 100 during the next 30 months, by which time it plans to be running an allPegaso fleet. The whole lot has cost the company £6 million.
Why? Because Pegaso offers good European breakdown and service support, that's why, says managing director Jeff Duval (icft), who started GB Express seven years ago after taking over an ailing local freight company. "About 90% of our vehicle movements are on the Continent, so we needed back-up we could rely on," he says.
The firm, which has depots in Lichfield, Barcelona and Cherbourg, and offices in Paris and Milan, bought the trucks from Pegaso France, but will get service support from Seddon Atkinson here and Pegaso subsidiaries throughout Europe. It has been running 22 Pegasos in France for the past 18 months. The Troners will replace a fleet of 90 Mercedes and MANs, 80% of which are left-hand drive.
The company runs express freight, groupage arid full-load services between the UK and much of Western Europe. Its average consignment weighs 500kg. ''We become competitive when you reach pallet-sized loads. We can do a parcel from Birmingham to Paris in 24 hours, but we'd be bloody expensive," says Duval.
Sending loads groupage rather than express is cheaper to the customer, but, at 72 hours from Birmingham to Bordeaux, it takes twice as long. GB moved from express into groupage and full loads three years ago, and now full loads make up half of its business.
It has full-load delivery contracts with Webasto, Michelin and United Technologies in Peterborough. All of its business is international. It does nothing within the UK, and 60% of turnover is motor industry-related.
The company — which plans to double its £12 million turnover in three years — has started multi-national work, taking goods for toy manufacturer Tonka from the UK to France and from France to Spain. "Eventually customers may be prepared to entrust their entire European business to us," says Duval. Cabotage here we come.