Turners’ trailers switch to TK Advancer
Turners (Soham) Ltd is expected to benefit from significant fuel savings having placed orders for 71 new single compartment reefer trailers fitted with Advancer A400 refrigeration systems – all of which are being supplied, installed and maintained by Thermo King’s longstanding UK dealer, Marshall Fleet Solutions.
Established over 80 years ago, Turners (Soham) has grown to be one of the largest and most successful privately owned transport companies in the United Kingdom, operating in excess of 1,850 vehicles from 32 sites and employing over 3,400 people.
Currently, Turners operates approximately 700 refrigerated trailers, with over 500 of the trailers being based on Thermo King refrigeration systems.
Initially, 31 Gray & Adams (G&A) single compartment trailers with TK Advancer units are joining the Turners fleet over a progressive 10- week cycle during the summer period, with a further 40 similar specification G&A trailers going into service from October onwards.
Announcing the details, group fleet engineer Tim King explained: “The increase in fuel price as a result of the rebate on red diesel being withdrawn will have a major impact on our overall fleet running costs.
“However, we believe that the introduction of new mod-ern trailers into our fleet, all of which will benefit from Advancer’s proven fuel-saving performance, will continue our push to operate the most economic temperature-controlled trailer fleet as possible.”
All 71 of the new G&A trailers with Advancers are expected to operate in the Turners fleet for at least 10 years, mainly working from the company’s Newmarket and Spalding facilities.
“We are a long-term major fleet user of Thermo King refrigeration systems in con-junction with Marshall Fleet Solutions, with whom we have a really close working relationship,” Tim King continued.
“As soon as Advancer was launched, MFS worked hard to ensure that we could introduce this innovative trailer fridge system into our fleet as soon as it was available.”
As part of the relationship with Turners, Marshall Fleet Solutions also runs a dedicated service and maintenance facility at the fleet operator’s site in Newmarket, handling the large number of Thermo King refrigeration systems in the fleet.
“Such is the synergy between the companies that this close relationship allows us to achieve far greater efficiencies and productivity with regards to our temperature-controlled trailer fleet,” said Tim.
“With the inbuilt telematics in the new Advancers, MFS and ourselves will be able to monitor closely the up-to-date fuel usage to identify the progress that we are making with regards to generating even greater fuel savings within the fleet.”
Mark Howell, managing director at Marshall Fleet Solutions, added: “With the rebate on red diesel being withdrawn, and by switching to the new sustainable Advancer units, Turners will automatically benefit from their refrigeration systems using fuel in a much more efficient way, burning less of it, which in turn has a positive impact on greenhouse gas emissions from their latest transport refrigeration units.
“By adopting this new technology with its fuel saving advantages, Turners will not only improve the efficiency of its fleet but also benefit from increased residual values of their trailers, with better advanced temperature management and inbuilt connectivity.”
