Transit park saves costs by 20 per cent
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• Abel Systems Ltd claims that by introducing demountable drawbar outfits Norman Gledhill and Co Ltd, part of the Delta Metal Group, should reduce direct transport costs by 20 per cent.
The outfits replace conventional rigid flats which were previously used to carry ISO container loads of the company's products — copper cylinders for industrial and domestic water systems.
Box bodies 24ft long are now used fitted with specially designed racking. The company uses a "transit park" system in its London and South East England delivery area. A drawbar combination travels from Gledhill's factory at Blackpool to a pre-arranged transit park where the trailer is left and deliveries are completed from the rigid part of the vehicle. The demountable boxes are swopped and the driver then has another full load to deliver without having to return to base.
Although the driver and vehicle may still be engaged in three or four-day routes, overall mileage is almost halved and two loads are delivered in almost the same time previously taken for a single load.
The Abel Uni-Swop system has been fitted to Gledhill's Ford Dl 210 chassis while the trailers are built by Taskers.