Besblock visit turns into trailer business for Dennison 30 August 2011

A chance visit to Telford building block manufacturer Besblock has resulted in new business for James Dennison, managing director of Dennison Trailers.

Dennison was visiting a customer nearby and decided to pay a visit to Besblock on the off chance that the firm might want new trailers. By coincidence the company was looking for an additional block carrier and the result was an order for a tailor-made, twin rear steer, tri-axle trailer.

"We thought James was responding to our enquiry. We had called a number of trailer makers but none seemed interested. One even told us it wasn't worth their while to design and build a one-off for us," says Besblock director Andrew Huxley.

"James, however, listened to us and promised to come up with a trailer that would fit the bill, so we placed the order there and then," he continues.

The new trailer allows the company to carry an extra pack of 90 blocks per load – an important payload increase when delivering 60,000 blocks a day. Despite carrying 20 packs of blocks each weighing around 1.4 tonnes – compared with 19 on a normal block trailer – and being fitted with a crane, the new Dennison trailer still has a quarter tonne of spare capacity.

Besblock's plant and equipment manager Toby Johnson is delighted with the new trailer. "We operate six eight-wheelers and six tractor units, with five block carrier and four tipping semi-trailers," he explains.

"The new trailer not only carries more, but it can get into places that the eight-leggers often struggle to access. The Dennison, with its twin Tridec steer system fitted to the rear two axles, along with its front lifting axle, dramatically improves manoeuvrability."

Driver John Lote agrees: "I often arrive on site to be told 'you won't get that in there', but the Dennison set-up makes short shrift of virtually every situation."

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Dennison Trailers Ltd

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