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The Ontime Automotive Group is renowned for pioneering new technology. No surprise, then, that its Volume Distribution division has just become the first operator in Britain to take delivery of a new generation of Mercedes-Benz car transporters.
Its latest 14 Actros 2541s are the first of their kind, and all dedicated to a prestigious contract with Land Rover. Ontime has distributed cars built at its customer’s factory in Solihull, West Midlands, since 1991, and recently won a new, two-year deal, with an option for a third year.
With headquarters in Hayes, Middlesex, and operating centres in Sheerness, Solihull, Swindon, Avonmouth/.Portbury, Southampton, Immingham and Purfleet, Ontime Automotive Distribution has a client portfolio that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the motor industry. It operates 150 open transporters, more than 100 of which wear the three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz.
Clearly, the more cars that can be carried on each rig, the more efficient and cost-effective the operation. But as John Fowler, Ontime’s Director of Volume Distribution, explains: “While we used to be able to carry eight cars on each transporter, over the years the Range Rover and Land Rover Discovery have grown bigger and heavier, with the result that we went down to just six.”
Now, with its latest truck and trailer combinations, Ontime Automotive Distribution is once again able to carry up to eight cars at a time.
Fully laden, the new transporters can reach gross weights in excess of 42 tonnes, so the first requirement was for a combination with a 44-tonne gvw. This, together with the fact that the fifth wheel is used to mount Lohr’s bodywork, meant that a three-axled tractor unit was the essential starting point.
But the unit must also be low enough to clear the standard, five-metre (16ft 6”) UK motorway bridge height with a margin to spare, even with the biggest of Range Rovers above the driver’s head. Not only do Ontime’s new Actros have ultra low, flat-roofed cabs, these are also mounted even lower on the chassis than would normally be the case. It is the first time that the Mercedes-Benz has built such a low unit on a 6x2 chassis.
Supplied by Sittingbourne dealer Sparshatts of Kent, the Actros have Autotrans automated transmissions and heavy-duty front axles, up from the standard 7.1 to eight tonnes, essential given that the latest Range Rover Sport tips the scales at 2.7 tonnes. A full-sized mid-lift axle also helps in coping with the load.
Meanwhile, Lohr’s new EHR 300 trailer and prime mover bodywork has been stripped of as much weight as possible, to give Ontime the maximum payload potential.
Key to the development of this new vehicle was the involvement of the Custom Tailored Trucks division at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Wörth, Germany. The CTT team specialises in coming up with low-volume solutions to specific transport problems and worked closely with Ontime’s own engineers on the project.
“The improved economics arising from being able to carry eight of the largest and heaviest Range Rovers and Land Rovers spells good news for Ontime Automotive Distribution and, by extension, for our customer,” declares John Fowler. “This radical new design, which we believe to be an industry ‘first’, underlines once again our commitment to innovation and our determination to push the boundaries of what can be achieved.”
In addition to its 14 new Actros Ontime has assigned four Swedish-built trucks, which also work with Lohr EHR 300 trailers, to Land Rover distribution. Another six vehicles, each capable of carrying up to seven cars, are used regularly too, but are not dedicated to this contract.
All product collected from Solihull is transported the 130 miles to Southampton – sometimes a driver will complete three runs over two days, at other times just two, though opportunities are also taken to collect backloads of imported cars of other brands, for distribution to UK retailers. |
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