Scania has been asked to provide what the company is calling a "total transport solution" to Co-operative Food Supply Chain (CFSC).
The order will see Scania providing fleet vehicles and associated services at CFSC's new composite distribution centre for Scotland and the Isles.
Sited at Newhouse, North Lanarkshire, the centre will be the operating base for 32 new Scania 18-tonne gvw rigids, while its five-bay workshop will maintain some 350 items of equipment and provide employment for up to 12 Scania-trained staff.
"As a long-time Scania user, we appreciate the value the brand adds to our business," comments CFSC's group transport manager, Ken Thompson.
"Durability, reliability, driver-acceptance, image and low whole-life costs are the hallmarks of the Scania product, while, in terms of aftermarket support, we know we can rely upon excellent service 24/7."
With deliveries of the new rigids scheduled to commence in March, the 32 trucks are 230bhp Scania P 230 DB4x2MNA models, with dual-compartment bodies for composite deliveries of chilled, frozen and ambient products.
Eight of the bodies are being supplied by Solomon, the remainder by Gray and Adams. Ratcliff heavy-duty tail-lifts and Carrier refrigeration units are being fitted throughout the fleet.
As for equipment maintained at Newhouse, Scania will be responsible for 60 rigid vehicles and 92 tractor units – including tail-lifts and refrigeration units, and a total of 190 trailers, of which 48 are ambient with the remainder being either double-deck or multi-compartment refrigerated trailers.
