MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Customers of Starplan Bedrooms can rest easy in the knowledge that their goods will arrive safely and on time aboard its new Mercedes-Benz Sprinters.
Supplied by Blackburn dealer Ciceley Commercials, the six box-bodied vans are based at depots in Warrington and Wednesbury, West Midlands – Starplan also has a distribution site in Northern Ireland.
They are now delivering beds and bedroom furniture manufactured in Starplan’s 150,000sq ft Warrington factory direct to customers’ homes nationwide. The company offers a full service from three-dimensional bedroom design to building, delivering and installing high-quality items in a range of traditional and contemporary styles.
Starplan purchased its first Mercedes-Benz vehicles after deciding to switch from 7.5-tonne trucks to 3.5-tonne chassis cabs with box bodies for home delivery work.
Transport Manager Steve Whittle explained: "There are obvious advantages to running 3.5-tonners – they’re cheaper to buy and to run, easier to manoeuvre around residential streets and don’t require an Operator’s Licence.
"But our vehicle bodies must also be tall enough to carry our standard 2220mm-long bed frames vertically – which is unusual in this weight class – as well as providing enough payload capacity to allow us to make multiple deliveries in one journey."
Starplan worked closely with Ciceley Commercials and Alloy Bodies, of Manchester, to come up with a lightweight, high-sided body design. The result is a vehicle which, with a driver and full tank of fuel on board, offers an 1100kg payload and an interior height of over 2.3 metres.
Meanwhile, the 129hp Sprinter 313CDI’s impressive fuel-saving credentials – the latest model is 15 per cent more frugal than its equivalent predecessor, while CO2 emissions are down by 13 per cent – are further enhanced by Alloy Bodies’ carefully tailored aerodynamic pod.
Mr Whittle continued: "Mercedes-Benz is a premium brand and our new Sprinters are clearly finished to a very exacting standard, so we have every confidence they’ll provide the absolute reliability that we demand. The three-pointed star also portrays a professional, high quality image, which is important when you’re delivering to customers’ homes. It makes these vehicles a perfect ‘fit’, given our own position in the market."
And he added: "The Sprinters were competitively priced and the service from Ciceley throughout the specification and purchase process has been excellent. The dealer’s ability to provide out of hours servicing is sure to come in very useful too, because it means our vehicles will always be available for work when we need them."
