Never skimp on service Hauliers still value good service, according
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to Norwich-based M&K Commercials Words: Steve Banner Times might be tough, but not all hauliers appear to be skimping on servicing in a bid to save cash. So says Kenny Allison, MD of Norwich-based Scania service dealer M&K Commercials.
"They're all well aware that they need to get certain jobs done in order to comply with the requirements of their 0-licence and we're seeing interest in contract maintenance as a means of spreading the cost," he says. A lax approach to service and repair is likely to land you in hot water with the enforcement authorities.
M&K has represented Scania since the late 1980s and is now one of the few stand-alone service-only dealers the manufacturer has left. Allison started the firm in 1979 with his business partner Michael Nash, and became a Daf dealer in 1982 but lost the franchise in 1987 in the wake of the Leyland and Daf merger. It subsequently took on Scania and has never looked back. Based on a near-oneacre site on Norwich's Bowthorpe Industrial Estate, it has a five-bay workshop that opens 6.30am to 11.30pm Monday to Friday, and until lunchtime on Saturdays. "We've got a light commercial bay too," says Allison.
First-time pass rate The company's customers consist primarily of smallto medium-sized operators, plus a handful of fleets and they should be more than happy with the first-time MoT pass rate M&K is achieving. "We hit 95% during the first four months of this year, slightly above the national average for the Scania network of 94%," says Allison.
He has no immediate plans for the dealership to become an authorised testing facility (ATF), however: "I'm not over-excited by the Rol."
If required, M&K's nine workshop technicians will tackle makes of truck other than Scania and, as the earlier reference to the light vehicle bay suggests, they are happy to service and repair vans as well. The firm's extended workshop opening hours appeal to light commercial owners who might struggle to get their vehicles serviced in the evening by van dealers whose mainstream business is selling cars.
"These days we find we're working on more vans, but fewer trailers," says Allison.
Operators who maintain their own Scanias sometimes have to call on M&K for assistance because they do not have the necessary diagnostic skills and equipment. They call on it for parts support too: prices are competitive, the first-pick rate is high, says Allison, and as a Scania dealer M&K is in a position to offer a more comprehensive guarantee than a local factor can. "We deliver parts all over Norfolk," he says.
One of M&K's key specialities is the installation and maintenance of tail-lifts, an area of expertise it has developed steadily for around 30 years. An agent for all the key makes, it employs three roving engineers dedicated to tail-lift work and can carry out examinations in line with the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations. "Our engineers cover the entire county," says Allison. •