So impressed was Falkirk Car Carriers with its first Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor unit that it is now running a second. Both arrived via Dealer Western Commercial and are pulling seven-car Voyager transporter trailers.
Family-owned Falkirk Car Carriers, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, specialises in multi- and single-vehicle deliveries nationwide; it also offers a European service. The company operates 16 trucks, all but three of them tractor units.
Although it also serves leasing companies and private clients, most of Falkirk Car Carriers’ work is undertaken for car dealers, including Western Commercial parent the Eastern Western Motor Group.
Explaining the decision to order its first Actros, co-founder and Director Yvonne Guild said: “We enjoy a great relationship with Mercedes-Benz through moving vehicles, so it made perfect sense to try the trucks.”
Commissioned last September, the breakthrough vehicle is a 375 kW (510 hp) Actros 2551 with range-topping GigaSpace cab and advanced, 12.8-litre straight-six engine. It has proved both reliable and economical, thanks in part to its fuel-saving Predictive Powertrain Control system – an innovative cruise control that employs 3D mapping and GPS data to scan the road ahead, this well proven technology manages gear changes and vehicle speed, making full use of momentum and of the transmission’s EcoRoll function.
The Mercedes-Benz is also a hit with driver Jim French, who prefers it to the vehicle that forms the backbone of the Falkirk Car Carriers fleet. “I’ve been well impressed,” he said. “My Actros has loads of power and never slows down on the hills, while the driving position and seat comfort are excellent; I can drive all day and feel good at the end of it.”
All of which explains why the Grangemouth-based operator is now running a second Actros, this time a 2548 BigSpace model with 350 kW (476 hp) version of the same, second-generation powerplant. Like its predecessor, the new arrival is the subject of a cost-effective Mercedes-Benz Financial Services contract hire agreement, and smartly finished, with colour-coded bumpers.
“Western Commercial’s sales executive Mel Berwick could not have made the process of ordering the trucks any easier,” enthused Yvonne Guild. “Mercedes-Benz is a great brand and our Actros look fantastic, while the fact that they’re so well-liked by those who use them is also important – good drivers are hard to come by, so we try to look after our own.”
Like all road-going Euro VI Mercedes-Benz and FUSO trucks maintained under a Service Contract, Falkirk Car Carriers’ Actros are covered by Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ Zero Tolerance on Downtime pledge. This assures operators that if their own vehicle cannot be repaired and set back on the road within 24 hours, they will either be provided with a like-for-like replacement, or reimbursed for the cost of renting one.
Western Commercial is also committed to keeping its customers’ vehicles out on the road and earning. Falkirk Car Carriers’ Actros are maintained by the Dealer’s Broxburn workshop team who, like their colleagues at its Bellshill branch, are open for business seven days a week.
“This means that when inspections and services are due we can get the work done on a Sunday then pick up the trucks again, ready to work, first thing on a Monday morning,” added Yvonne Guild. “Our drivers are often away all week, so the fact that there’s no disruption to our business is a huge benefit.”
