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This year got off to an excellent start for Cheshirebased Cartwright Group, as attention switched to smaller bodies and home delivery
Words: Kevin Swallow
Following a hiatus in new trailer orders from major logistics irms over the past 18 months, Cartwright Group, the Altrincham-based body and trailer manufacturer, says 2011 has got off to a good start.
Director Steven Cartwright says the company received some good orders through the opening two months of the year. “We were busy in March and some large contracts needed quoting for,” he says. “A lot of operators weren’t buying in volumes – companies such as TNT and Royal Mail. We just got a good order last week for 110 rigid vehicles from a new customer, a high street retailer, so we are getting new work.” Orders for rigid bodywork are beginning to relect the greater emphasis placed on the home delivery market. Cartwright Group hasn’t been a major player in the 3.5-tonne market, he says, but thinks that will change as operators look to smaller vehicles as alternatives to 7.5-tonners, as heavier Euro-6 engines will reduce payloads.
Weight penalties
Truck manufacturers need SCR and EGR to meet the Euro-6 engine emission standard, which becomes mandatory on 31 December 2013. Scania says its 13-litre Euro-6 engine will be 75kg heavier than the equivalent Euro-5, while Mercedes-Benz has so far ducked questions about weight penalties altogether.