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Relay Technical Services specialises In the transport and distribution of
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delicate office equipment, mainframe computers and hospital apparatus throughout the UK and to some European countries. The company is based at lver In Bucks, and has a depot at Warrington operating a fleet of some 50 vehicles, ranging from 5.5 to 44 tonnes.
Managing director Joe Schulein says: "We have four MANS but the rest of our trucks are Mercedes-Benz. I believe you get what you pay for. The big MAN is not bad but the little 7.5tanners are just not the same quality as our Mercs. We have looked at Dais, lvecos and ERFs• The Scanias were good quality but expensive. We have three Mercedes-Benz specified with the V6. They are 1835s and an 1840. Two are drawbars, which have been downplated to 28 tonnes.
"Our operation is more about volume than weight, and we can still drop the trailers for delivery and collection. The high-roof cabs give that extra bit of space and the drivers like them. "We bought our first Actros in 1907 and normally we would have liked to update after four years, but we have kept them longer due to expansion of the business. Fortunately, our business has been quite buoyant over the last few years but I believe we are now seeing the knock-on effect of 11 September, particularly with the steep increases in vehicle insurance premiums and both the cost and limited availability of public liability insurance, without which no company can afford to operate.
"It could cause many companies to go out of business if the government does not step In and do something about it.
'When we do sell our trucks we sell to the trade. Mercedes-Benz has a good name and this generates good resale values.
"Mercedes' backup and service is good but we don't use the main dealer on a regular basis, as it is too expensive and not flexible enough. We only go there for major repairs. As we cover up to 200,000km a year we do use Mercedes roadside assistance but a local garage handles nearly all of our routine maintenance. Compared with what we ran before, the Actros is very complicated with so much electronics. Our first purchase was as the result of a cancelled order After it was delivered it just wouldn't start.
"The dealer sent along a technician who plugged in his laptop and found a fault with the computer He also found that the batteries were not as new as the truck. It was off the road for two weeks. We rented a replacement and Mercedes-Benz paid the bilk "Since then the truck has been totally reliable. We had early problems with electrics and a clutch on the other two as well but Mercedes jumped as soon as we needed their assistance.
"Everything has been quiet for quite a while now, and apart from those teething troubles, they have been good trucks. Reliability is important to us as we are often tied to timed deliveries that can include penalty clauses but we enjoy a good relationship with Mercedes-Benz."