The move is part of a new strategy by Tuffnells to employ a mix of fleet funding methods, including ownership, leasing and rental. This ensures greater flexibility and has enabled the business to adjust capacity to accommodate significant business growth both during and post-lockdown.
The company has taken 21 new 7.5-tonne trucks on a six-year contract hire agreement, extending the existing 170 HGVs and 20 delivery vans it has from Enterprise on a flexible rental programme. The new vehicles are 7.5t Euro 6 DAF FALF-180 with rigid chassis cab, including a tuck-away tail lift. The new trucks also feature onboard camera systems to ensure maximum visibility for drivers and aiding the safe operation of the vehicles.
Simon Parsons, services director at Tuffnells, comments: “We scrutinised how we manage and finance our fleet, and the Enterprise team provided valuable guidance. This demonstrated the benefits of using a mix of funding and fleet acquisition methods, maintaining a flexible solution to meet our requirements.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Enterprise, and we worked with the team to put flexibility at the heart of our fleet strategy. Combining rental and ownership with contract hire means our fleet is ready to face any challenge. It means we can rapidly scale up or down as demand changes, it’s easier to handle maintenance, and we get fast access to replacement vehicles at a moment’s notice.
“The surge in demand caused by the lockdown is just one example of how important flexibility is to a business where being responsive to customer needs is the number one priority. Providing our drivers with new vehicles is very important to us. It demonstrates the commitment we have to them and provides the right equipment to safely deliver for our customers.”
Danny Glynn, Managing Director at Enterprise Flex-E-Rent, adds: “Adding contract hire means that the business can cover all its bases – a solid core of vehicles on long-term leases, with rental to provide scalability and flexibility to reduce risk while ensuring vehicle availability on demand when required.”