One of the vehicles is a long-bodied variant for multi-temperature applications with a Thermo King T1000 Spectrum fridge, sliding side door, roller shutter rear door and Dhollandia column tail-lift. This operates from Tican’s Boston depot.
The remaining seven Antos units operate from Tican’s Walsall depot and are used for single-temperature applications, with roller shutter rear doors, Dhollandia tail-lifts, and a mixture of Thermo King T800 and T1000 fridges depending on chassis lengths.
The new units replace refrigerated DAF rigids, as Tican director Andy Jones explains: “We’ve got a lot of DAFs but we were keen to investigate the Mercedes-Benz trucks, and the safety features were key attractions for us.”
Daniel Freeman, Tican operations manager, adds: “We’ve been using Chereau bodies for more than two years. We feel that the Chereau bodies give us more control over the chill factor, in part thanks to the rounded internal corners. We’re also impressed by the durability of Chereau’s bodies.”
Ryder has been supplying vehicles to Tican for 10 years and maintains the operator’s fleet.