Quayside lands another prize from Gray & Adams 23 April 2013

Fresh and frozen seafood transporter Quayside Distribution has bought another 'fish specification' temperature-controlled vehicle from Gray & Adams.

Indeed, in the last six months, Gray & Adams has supplied Quayside with two batches of single-deck trailers, all with Eco-Aer enhancements, such as wide-radiused top cappings and vortex generators, aimed at smoothing airflow and cutting fuel consumption.

Although equipped with single-temperature Thermo King refrigeration units, these trailers are also fitted with bulkheads and transfer fans, so can be used for frozen and chilled distribution.

Other 'fish specification' features include additional drain holes with stop cocks and extra sealing for the electrical and associated systems to protect them from water ingress.

"Most of the fish we carry is transported in polystyrene boxes filled with ice. A certain amount of water leakage is inevitable and that can affect the electrics, as well as causing other problems," explains managing director Mick Wilkinson, who founded Quayside in 1997.

"We have found over the years that other manufacturers don't allow for this. But it's never an issue with a Gray & Adams trailer, because of the additional drainage and insulation features," he adds.

Wilkinson also says his trucks are normally replaced after three years on the road, but indicates that the Gray & Adams trailers are so robust he anticipates running them "for at least 10 years".

Although most of his trucks are tractor units, the Quayside fleet also includes a number of rigid trucks with single-temperature bodies, again by Gray & Adams – and Wilkinson says that's another story.

At the suggestion of the bodybuilder's general sales manager Andrew Brown, Quayside's latest 10-tonne MAN trucks were down-rated for operation at 7.5 tonnes gvw. They can thus be driven at this lighter weight under grandfather rights by older drivers who gained their standard car licences before 1997.

Anyone passing their test after this date needs a Category C1 LGV licence to drive a 7.5-tonne vehicle anyway, so should Quayside want to assign one of these trucks to a younger driver, it can uprate the vehicle back to the maximum permissible 10 tonnes gvw and take advantage of the extra payload gained.

"That sort of thinking is typical of Gray & Adams," comments Wilkinson. "They don't just sell you a product off the shelf. They'll sit down and talk through the operation with you, then come up with a solution tailored to meet your needs."

Quayside – which distributes to supermarket RDCs throughout the UK and runs an export/import operation to the continent, with full and groupage backloads of fresh and frozen goods –recently invested £4 million in an 11,000-pallet bonded cold store in Grimsby.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Gray & Adams Ltd
Scania (Great Britain) Ltd

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