Cartwright is building new trailers for its expanding rentals fleet for the first time as the growth of the company's Rentals division continues to hit record levels.
The company will also be including LSTs on its rental fleet with the choice of either double deck LSTs as well as standard LSTs for rental customers.
Rental Sales Director Paul Burn confirmed that the decision had recently been made to refresh the fleet and commence building 150 trailers for the Rentals division in the first quarter of 2014.
"These are both a first for Cartwright and the Rentals arm of the company. We will be building these new trailers specifically for our Rentals customers and the availability of LSTs for rent is probably a first in the industry.
"Furthermore some of our customers are switching from other rental companies wanting to de-hire their equipment, in order for Cartwright to provide new products" he said.
Paul Burn explained that the additional new trailers for the rentals fleet would be a mixture of tall straight frame curtainsiders with 3.1 metre aperture through the side built to full EN 12642XL specification. These trailers are typical of the specification now popular with automotive industry customers, he said.
The automotive industry is currently a major growth market for Cartwright as these trailers have the maximum height, and the biggest internal capacity available. There are not many of this type of trailer available on the rental market place, said Paul Burn.
The 150 trailers will also include a larger proportion of fixed and moving double deck curtainsiders and fixed and moving deck box vans, some of which will have two-tier tail-lifts.
Also included in the 150 new build rentals trailers will be a number of double deck refrigerated trailers.
"The build will start in the first quarter of 2014 as we are very busy at the moment with current customer orders."
Paul Burn said that operators are being allowed to change their current allocation of LSTs to include either 14.6 metre or 15.65 metre length trailers up to December 31st 2013. The new allocation process will then allow a maximum of six months for operators to supply the DFT with proof of order from a manufacturer to show their commitment to acquire the LSTs. If operators are not able to meet this deadline they will lose their allocation.
Looking to 2014 Paul Burn commented: "I am confident that there will be good growth for the Cartwright Rentals division next year and the growth will come from the double deck market which is continuing to grow year on year by between 10 and 15 per cent. We also see major growth in EN 12642XL specification orders."
He expects the rentals division to reach or even exceed a £20 million annual turnover for the first time in the current financial year to April 2014.
Paul Burn said that so far 2013 had been a "brilliant year for Rentals".
"We are a little up on our utilisation levels compared to last year based on a larger fleet. We are now operating with a fleet of about 5,500 and this is increasing year on year in size." he said.
The vast majority of Cartwright customers, around 90 per cent, are attracted by the company's highly competitive and flexible Operating Lease which sets residuals and a fixed price after customers return their trailers. These returned trailers go straight into the Rentals Fleet.
Customers also have the option of contract hire with a full maintenance pack.
Paul Burn added that in line with the growth in the rentals fleet, Cartwright Rentals is also planning to expand its network of dedicated rentals sites.
A rentals branch was opened recently in Glasgow and plans are in pipeline to open a new rentals branch, in the south-east in the New Year.