Ryder is investing £24.6 million in a further upgrade and expansion of its commercial vehicle rental fleet, following the company's acquisition of Hill Hire in June 2011.
Over the next two months, Ryder will be introducing 530 new vehicles, including 250 tractors – bringing the average age of Ryder's trucks and tractors to 27 months.
Around 80% of the new trucks are Mercedes-Benz with most of the remaining 20% DAF vehicles.
HGVs will now represent 82% of Ryder's commercial vehicle mix. Additionally, within the HGV categories, tractors will now account for 42% of the fleet.
David Hunt, vice president and managing director Ryder Europe, explains that, in the HGV rigid fleet, two categories are being expanded to cater for growing customer demand – these being 12 tonne and 26 tonne capacity rigid trucks.
The HGV rigid fleet will also benefit from a combination of new medium and heavy box and curtain sided trucks, he says.
"This latest investment underlines our commitment to providing customers with the most current and efficient rental options in the UK market today," comments Hunt.
"The acquisition of Hill Hire has already brought many benefits, not least the merging of our fleets which has provided more product choice for customers including a wider range of makes," he continues.
"This latest investment improves our rental fleet profile even further. Ryder now has a substantial tractor fleet to complement its rigid trucks and can offer a very broad range of vehicle payload and specification options."
This most recent purchase of new vehicles follows Ryder's earlier investment of £22 million in new rental vehicles in 2011 and £18 million in 2010.