Kerry Foods places first Iveco Daily fleet order

Kerry Foods has taken delivery of a fleet of 128 new Iveco Daily 35S12 chassis cabs. Each vehicle will be supplied on a six year contract hire agreement.
This delivery marks the first Iveco vehicles to join the Kerry Foods fleet and follows successful trials of a new prototype chassis and bodywork combination, built to meet the company’s exacting requirements.
Kerry Foods has selected the Daily chassis cab models to replace a similar number of panel vans in its fleet, with the aim of further improving productivity and maximising health & safety for its drivers.
These improvements have been made possible by designing each of the vehicles with wheel-boxes inside so that the bodywork can sit low down on the chassis, maximising ease-of-access during loading and unloading.
Steve Prangle, Kerry Foods Commercial Director, explains: “Our sales representatives make between 30 and 40 drops per day, which means ensuring the body is easily accessible which is important from a health and safety point of view.  The new vehicle has also been very well received as our team find it quicker and easier to get in and out of the body, without the need to take a big step up or down.  When you are performing multi-drop deliveries six days a week, even small improvements can make a big difference.”
Prangle added: “We selected the Iveco chassis as it afforded the maximum bodybuilding flexibility and was recommended to us for this application by Fraikin.  The Daily has an excellent reputation in the fleet market and met all of our requirements. We have built a very strong relationship with Fraikin over the last 12 months and this new order adds to the 220 vehicles they have already supplied to us on contract hire.”
Each of the Daily 35S12 chassis cabs are being fitted with refrigerated bodies manufactured by Manchester-based Cool Freeze, together with Hubbard refrigeration equipment.  They are expected to cover up to 30,000 miles a year.
The contract with Fraikin includes all servicing and maintenance of the chassis, bodywork and refrigeration unit, managed via Fraikin’s central Customer Support Centre in Coventry.  As part of the agreement, Fraikin will also provide MOTs, tyres and 24/7 emergency roadside assistance.  At the end of the five year deal the Daily’s will simply be returned to Fraikin, meaning Kerry Foods has none of the hassles typically associated with used vehicle disposal.
Simon McBride