Driving ‘green’ efficiency at Boxes and Packaging

Boxes and Packaging, the nationwide packaging company supplying businesses with environmentally friendly corrugated cardboard boxes and cartons, has upgraded the distribution fleet at its Merseyside site with two new DAF FA LF55.250 trucks from commercial vehicle hire and fleet management specialist, Prohire Plc.

The two curtain-sided, 18 tonne Euro 6 compliant vehicles were supplied on a five-year, fixed-price contract with maintenance, replacing two existing vehicles that had come to the end of their contract.

"We've been with Prohire for many years. In fact, all five of our trucks are under contract with them, but when it came to renewing two of our vehicles we had a good shop around for a better deal. Prohire were the ones that came up trumps as they were very competitive, but have also continued to provide our business with very good levels of service," says Stefan Weig, Managing Director of Boxes and Packaging.

"We did consider outsourcing our transport operation, however, with the attractive hire and maintenance package offered by Prohire - which included tyres, road tax, servicing and a replacement vehicle, they made it possible to help keep the operation in-house," he says.

Delivered at the beginning of March, the two vehicles were specified by Prohire to suit the specific needs of the packaging company's demanding 10 hour, multi-drop distribution operation. One of the vehicles was fitted with a 'tuck-away' tail-lift and both have flush-fitting 'barn doors' to the rear, along with rear step and grab handle for easy, safe driver access. In addition, V-groove outer rails with lashing points were installed and the height and width of the vehicles were reduced slightly to facilitate more efficient pallet loading. Finally, for security, the vehicles were fitted with trackers.

Fuel efficiency and environmental performance are important to Boxes and Packaging. "We pride ourselves on producing an environmentally friendly product. 90 per cent of our corrugated boxes are made from recycled fibres and all of our products can be recycled again. So having the environmentally efficient Euro 6 compliant engine on the new DAF trucks was very important to us," says Weig.