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Curtainsided bodywork by any other name • •
Page 77
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BOALLOY was until recently part of the John Brown group where its interests overlapped with those of Craven Tasker.
Since April, the company has been operating under the name Boalloy Engineering and has extended its workshop facilities at Congleton, Cheshire, where it produces the Tautliner, one in a range of maximum-access vehicles.
The company was fortunate to have a large order book at that time and has since continued to obtain a succession of new orders; a recent development with Crane Fruehauf Boalloy Engineering will supply curtainsider kits for Rentco, the second largest rental fleet in the UK.
At one time kits were also exported to Boalloy subsidiaries around the world, but now the bodies are built under licence. While there is no intention to produce kits for general availability, this order has resulted in a substantial increase in production — so much so that even with 22,500sqft of undercover workshop facility the company finds itself short of space with a workforce of some 340 producing about 50 Tautliners and up to eight kits a week.
Since the Tautliner introduction in 1969 the name has become almost a generic term for curtainsided bodywork.
Gerald Broadbent, joint company managing director, explained the company's success as one of continuous development. "I amalways looking for ways to further improve the product", he told me. "Different operations throw up individual problems — we try to have an answer for them all".
To meet the demand, to carry chilled loads, Boalloy is being forced to enter the insulated body market and has just comm i ss ioned equipment to produce foam filled interlocking roof and floor panels, used in its Insuliner design. Existing freezer units do not satisfy the performance requirement of curtainsiders, so Boalloy is developing a prototype, full-bulkhead width unit and is hoping to be on show at this year's Motor Show in Birmingham.
Boalloy introduced its Gold Standard to include its latest developments for the top-of-the line Tautliner. Satisfied customers, however, will always continue to specify a design which has proven itself in service.
Renovation and repair are other aspects of the company's business also catered for at the Congleton factory.