The transport, logistics and warehousing provider is now running eight new-generation Actros 2548 tractor units, double-shifted and supplied on contact hire.
They are now being inspected and maintained by the service team at Sparshatt Truck & Van, which, like Salvatori’s new branch, is on the town’s Eurolink Industrial Estate.
While the company provides international services, the Actros fleet, fitted with 469.5bhp 12.8-litre in-line six-cylinder engines, are on domestic work. They undertake local and regional collections and deliveries during the day, then trunk each night to the Palletways hub in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and Greenford, West London.
The Salvatori Group’s own head office and main depot, which has storage facilities for up to 11,000 pallets, is in Aylesham, Canterbury. The company runs a fleet of approximately 90 trucks, the majority of them tractor units, in which two other brands hold sway. The Salvatori family have been in business in the Canterbury area for more than 80 years, and is said to be the UK’s longest-established processing fruit trader.
Managing director Daniel Salvatori confirmed: “The demonstrator did well on fuel, while the drivers liked it too. Ultimately, for us, a truck is a tool with which to do a job. I need it to be reliable, I need it to be fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly, and above all I need it to be safe and comfortable for our drivers. I’m very optimistic, on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, that the Actros will tick all of these boxes.”
Unlike the new units, Salvatori maintains the trucks it operates from Aylesham in its own workshop. The very high level of aftersales support pledged by Sparshatt was a crucial factor in the company’s decision to run only Mercedes-Benz trucks from its Sittingbourne depot.
He concludes: “Ultimately, time will tell, but Sparshatt certainly has a great opportunity to impress us – as I told its workshop manager, it’s what he and his team do over the next few years that will sell us the next Mercedes-Benz trucks.”