Customer Profile : Meacher Transport

Date

October 17, 2008

Full Story

Q & A with Bob Terris from Meacher Transport

Meachers Transport is a relatively new customer to Hendy Van and Truck compared to many other customers who deal with the Hendy Group.  Nevertheless, the two companies have many similarities and have achieved a strong relationship over the last three years.

The Meachers Group is a privately owned and operated Southampton company which started trading over 50 years ago and has since expanded its business throughout the UK.

Meachers Transport offers a bespoke service combining UK transport, international freight forwarding and warehousing to provide a complete solution for both UK and international logisitcal requirements across diverse industry sectors.

Over the years Meachers Transport has invested heavily in new vehicles and equipment following the winning of a number of new contracts in a cross section of industries: aggregates, packing, chemicals, plastics and marines.  As well as investing in its vehicles, Meachers has also updated its warehouse Management Information System to provide staff and customers with greater control of stock levels and transactions.

Bob Terris, Managing Director has this to say:

Q.  You run a fleet of more than 50 Iveco vehicles - tell us what factors are important when choosing a supplier.

A.  There are a number of things we consider - all of which are extremely important for us.  We need to have top quality product, we need to know a good back-up service to ensure the vehicles are constantly working for us and of course price is important.  Aside from this a good relationship with our supplier is crucial.

Q.  So looking at product - tell us a little about the fleet.

A.  We have just taken delivery of 20 new Iveco Stralis 6x2 twin-steer tractor units to join 30 similar models already in operation.  They are all on a three year full service contract hire agreement from Iveco Capita.  The Stralis AS440S45TX/P tractors will operate nationwide with 13.6m Lawrence David curtainside trailers.

Q.  How do you ensure the vehicles will be on-the-road up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

A.  Well thats down to Hendy Van and Truck.  We've already experienced excellent reliablility from the Stralis, supported by a first class service package from Hendy which ensures that any vehicle downtime is negligible.

Q.  How did you decide to switch to a 100 per cent Iveco fleet?

A.  We had a really successful three month trial and since then have been steadily replacing out entire Southampton Fleet.