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The drinks are on DAF

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  • Developing business drives St Austell Brewery fleet growth
  • Two DAF demo trucks impress in service
  • Driver acceptance and public image important aspects
  • Local dealer key to decision

Founded in 1851, St Austell Brewery is the largest wholesale distributor of beer, wines, spirits, cider and soft drinks in South West England. It’s an operation that demands top performance, and five DAF CF220 FALF 16 tonne rigids have just joined the brewer’s dray fleet to help it keep pace with demand. Kevin Andrews, Logistics Manager for St Austell Brewery, says, “The business is thriving and diversifying, and the new DAFs are part of a fleet expansion scheme as well as part of our ongoing renewal programme.”

The brewery initially had two demonstrators, provided through local dealership Wessex DAF Trucks, working in its 72-strong fleet of Iveco and Volvo vehicles. Andrews says, “This was our first experience with DAFs and they fitted in really well with what we wanted. Overall the trucks look very clean and modern and that works well with our marketing imagery. They performed impressively on our mix of A-roads, narrow country lanes and restricted village and town centre routes, and their fuel was very good – and that’s especially important in this part of the world, where environment is always very much front-of-mind for us.”

The five DAF 16 tonners joining the St Austell Brewery fleet will be split between the brewer’s Ilfracombe and Heathfield distribution centres. All have curtain sided bodywork to cope with the mix of beer, cider and lager kegs and cases of wines and spirits being delivered, and are already winning strong acceptance among the drivers working with them.  Traditionally, St Austell Brewery acquires its vehicles on outright purchase terms, and the new DAFs are no exception, though the company is trialling the benefits of DAF R&M packages.

Andrews says, “Normally, we would handle R&M ourselves, but we have taken five-year plans on three of the new DAFs and will be watching the impacts of this approach very carefully. It is vital for us to ensure maximum up-time, especially at peak seasons of the year, and there ought to be real benefits in having manufacturer-led R&M services in that respect. We will see.

“We have a good relationship now with Wessex DAF Trucks, following the initial demonstration period and now with the fleet deliveries, and are comfortable that the high service levels and commitment they have shown to us thus far will continue. People are important in this business, and these are people we feel happy to deal with.”

The company has telematics fitted to every vehicle in the intake. Says Andrews, “Telematics is particularly useful to us on the wide mix of routes we have across our distribution area, which, outside the immediate south-west, extends northwards as far as Gloucester, and east as far as Bournemouth. We use it very carefully to monitor ‘green-band’ driving, because that’s also the quickest way to spot any driver performance-related fuel issues, as well as potential wear and tear problems for the future.”

For further details please contact:

Paul O’Malley, Torque Agency Group                                
020 7952 1070
pomalley@torqueagencygroup.com

Notes to Editors:

  • Founded in 1851 by Cornishman Walter Hicks, today St Austell Brewery remains 100% independent and family owned
  • St Austell Brewery is one of Cornwall’s largest employers with over 1,000 full and part time employees, 300 working in brewing, distribution and head office functions and 700 serving customers in St Austell Brewery’s 25 managed pubs, hotels and inns.
  • In addition to direct employees, St Austell Brewery’s 145 tenanted pubs also provide valuable employment to 1000s more across the South West.
  • The brewery operates a local sourcing policy, aiming to work wherever it is able with trades people, food suppliers, colleges and farms within the local vicinity.

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