Tradebe Healthcare was keen to get the new DAF LFs – comprised of one 7.5-tonne and two 12-tonne models on a five-year contract hire deal – into service as quickly as possible, as their design offers an increased payload capacity compared to the three short-term Fraikin rental vehicles they replaced.
Neil Venturelli-Stedman, national transport manager at Tradebe Healthcare, explains: “It was important to get the three new trucks operational as they’re designed to have significantly more capacity to carry extra clinical waste than the vehicles we had on short-term rental.”
The new trucks’ bespoke, single-deck rigid bodies were being built by Wheelbase Engineering, which like many bodybuilders had to cope with an impact to production due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Fraikin’s great relationship with Wheelbase Engineering helped to ensure that the new trucks were completed on time. Their ability to get things done secured the vital extra capacity for the fleet that we’ve certainly needed these past few months,” adds Venturelli-Stedman.
Building on a five-year working relationship, Fraikin supplies all of Tradebe Healthcare’s 30-strong mixed commercial vehicle fleet. The three new DAFs will be joined shortly by four larger 21-tonne, double-deck variants currently being built.
As part of its contract hire agreements, all routine servicing and maintenance is managed by Fraikin – a process that now includes a range of new hygiene practices due to COVID-19. Work is then carried out in-house at one of Fraikin’s eight branches nationwide, or through its approved third-party network.
On the road 24 hours a day, and for a minimum of five days a week, the two 12-tonne rigids will operate out of the company’s Rochester branch, while the 7.5-tonner will be based in Redditch. The three vehicles are expected to clock up between 50,000 and 60,000 miles a year.
Tradebe Healthcare, part of global parent company Tradebe, provides integrated clinical waste management, treatment and disposal from its sites across the UK.