Notts dealer to move
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• Volvo distributorship Hartshorne is planning to relocate its Nottingham depot to another site elsewhere in the city. "At the moment we're in Beechdale Avenue, in a former bus depot in the middle of a housing estate, and it's not an ideal location," says marketing manager Alan Southall. "We need to get closer to our customers. and all the big transport operations are on the outskirts of town."
No firm date has been set for the relocation, and a site has yet to be chosen. "But it's under review," says Southall. Last year Hartshorne opened a service and parts operation at Landor Street in Birmingham, on the Freightliner terminal. "With Freightliner running more Volvos the opportunity arose for us to take over their workshops. look after their vehicles and bring in thirdparty work too," he explains.
It means that Volvo operators in the area will no longer have to dispatch their trucks to Hartshorne's Walsall branch for maintenance and have them waste time inching their way up the congested M6.
As for Walsall, the company aims to expand its used truck activities on a dedicated site there. It's reporting plenty of interest in used FHs and FL10s, and the handful of exdemonstrator FMs it has disposed of were sold before it took them off the road.
Late-plated second-hand vehicles are selling well because they can start work immediately. Order a new Volvo and you might wait up to 14 weeks for delivery.
Hartshorne is supplying Exel Logistics with 56 4x2 tractors, a mix of FM7s and FM12s in its biggest-ever contract hire deal. They're for use on Exers distribution contract with chilled and frozen food consortium Nisa Today's. The five-year deal includes an equal number of dualtemperature refrigerated semitrailers from Schmitz Cargobull and Gray eg, Adams. "We aim to supply a total package wherever we can," says Southall.
Elsewhere in the network, Volvo has acquired Carlisle Commercials, which will become part of Volvo Truck & Bus North.