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Grit and bear it
Page 44
Page 45
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If you spotted a gritter over the past month or so, the chances are it was supplied by Yorkshire-based Econ Engineering.
Words: Kevin Swallow
If you thought your local county council, or its contractor, had a row of gritter trucks with snowploughs parked up at the back of a yard waiting for winter, you'd be about half-right.
For instance, this site in Ripon has several rows of gritter trucks with snowploughs parked up, but this yard belongs to Ripon-based body-builder and supplier Econ Engineering.
Increasingly, the trend, explains director Andrew Lupton — who, along with his brother, Jonathan, took over the business from their father, Bill, in 2000— is for local authorities or contractors to hire gritting trucks from Econ for a six-month period between October and March.
The key to Econ's success is ensuring councils and contractors have operational equipment at a moment's notice. "It is a time-pressurised service," Lupton says. "When you need spreaders, you need all of them within two to three hours, you can't plan your work."
On the Continent, he says, winters tend to be more predictable and longer. This allows local authorities to dual-purpose vehicles and opt for the more expensive swap-body specification, safe in the knowledge that both configurations will receive extensive use.
Unpredictable winters
In the UK, however, with its unpredictable winters, a few days' work for a swap-body gritter/snowplough can mean an expensive piece of kit sitting idle for long periods of the year.
But last year, after eight mild winters, Transport for London was caught out after scaling back its winter preparations. Framing a contract for gritting is nearimpossible, says Lupton. This makes hiring dedicated gritting vehicles the preferred option for supplier and user.
"Money is tighter. It's better to have them off the book, while procurement within EC legislation gets more complex, plus, you are framing your costs against revenue coming in. It's more attractive to hire." Lupton says.
Gritter fleet
To meet this growing trend, Econ has 200 permanently mounted glitters and more than 100 with swap-bodies on its hooks. Its grittcr fleet is mobilised in September, and the trucks return in April. so they can be serviced and maintained ready for the following winter.
The chassis cabs of choice are DAF and Volvo, at 18 tonnes, DAL' for 26 tonnes and Mercedes-Benz for 4x4 and 6x6 applications.
On average. 400 products are sold each year. and tippers, hot boxes, gully emptiers (a partnership with Whale) and road mender (half tipper/half hot box) are the swap-body options.
"We are buying 20 to 30 new chassis every year [for the rental gritter fleet]. and we have good export contacts in eastern Europe. We sell [decommissioned gritters] to Poland. Bulgaria and Greece." Lupton says. le
Suppliers and users prefer to hire gritting vehicles