“We wanted to move away from running a mixed bag of vehicles by concluding a volume supply agreement with a single manufacturer,” states Marshall fleet manager Andy Ellis, adding that only the best would do.
“We now have almost 60 Mercedes-Benz vans and are proposing to convert the remainder of the fleet at the earliest opportunity,” he says.
Sprinters account for the majority of the vehicles supplied to date, and the latest have been fitted out to three specifications, covering truck and trailer refrigeration, tail-lift service and light commercial applications.
Marshall’s 10 Vito models, some of which are crew vans with second rows of seats, are already used by installation engineers, while its three Citans are allocated to master engineers, who cover training and quality control.
Ellis says part of the appeal of Mercedes-Benz vans is the 24-hour maintenance and repair capability from the dealer network.
“We sometimes lose our other vans for more than a day when they need servicing, with an ongoing cost to Marshall in terms of downtime and productivity,” he explains.
“By contrast, the fact that we can get our Mercedes-Benz vehicles into dealer workshops and serviced overnight, means they’re always available for work when we need them.”
“We also benefit from having acquired all of the vehicles through CharterWay. And our vans come with MobiloVan cover, which includes round-the-clock, emergency roadside assistance, while our previous vehicle suppliers cannot match the manufacturer’s three-year, unlimited mileage warranty.”