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What better way to celebrate your 25th anniversary in business than by taking delivery of a new fleet of 22 vehicles from across the Mercedes-Benz truck and van range.
Circle Express, a specialist overnight distributor of air freight, bought its 17 BlueTec® Euro 4 Mercedes-Benz trucks and five vans from Heathrow dealer Rygor Commercials.
They include an Actros 2546 Executive tractor unit. Finished in special metallic silver, to mark Circle Express’s Silver Anniversary, this vehicle is its new flagship. Features include a range-topping, air-conditioned, flat-floored MegaSpace cab and, mated to its 460hp V6 engine, a new Mercedes PowerShift, fully electronic 12-speed automated transmission. The Actros pulls a new, curtainsided trailer by Cartwright, of Manchester.
Circle Express has also bought four more Actros 2546 tractors with Long Distance high-roofed sleeper cabs, and 12 rigids, all with Cartwright curtainside bodies. These comprise four Axor 18-tonners – one a 330hp 1833 drawbar chassis, the others being 1824s, two of which also have tuckaway tail-lifts – and eight Atego 816 7.5-tonners.
The Axor 1824 was previously badged 1823. Its BlueTec® Euro 4 engine produces just short of 240hp, compared to its predecessor’s 230hp, hence its new nomenclature, while torque is also improved, from 810 to 850Nm. Likewise the new Atego 816, which was previously the 815. The engine output of this model is up from 150hp to 156hp, and torque from 580Nm to 610Nm.
The company’s latest Mercedes vans, meanwhile, are all new-generation Sprinter 311CDIs and also finished in silver. Two are Extra Long panel vans with super-high roofs, while the other three are chassis cabs with curtainside bodies by GM Billings, of Loughton, Essex.
Privately-owned and boasting a £25-million annual turnover, Circle Express serves all of the main air freight agencies, and has some 1,200 clients within a five-mile radius of Heathrow alone! The company has a specialist division for handling radioactive cargoes such as cancer drugs, and is also licensed to carry firearms.
Circle Express handles more than 330 tonnes of cargo every day and operates a fleet of 120 trucks and 180 vans from its network of eight UK depots, all of which are located close to airports; it also calls regularly on the services of up to 70 van owner-drivers.
The truck fleet is split between Mercedes-Benz and a Swedish manufacturer, while the overwhelming majority of the vans wear the three-pointed star. Crucially, though, these are the first trucks that Circle Express has bought from the Mercedes dealer at Heathrow.
Circle Express Proprietor Chris Coffey explains: “Trunkers apart, our vehicles tend to work within their own regional depot areas. So we buy our trucks and vans locally, because we then rely on the supplying dealers for back-up.
“The exception was always Heathrow, where for a number of years the service from the local Mercedes agent just wasn’t up to scratch. I’m pleased to say, however, that since Rygor Commercials took over in 2004 this situation has been transformed.
“Rygor’s response times are much faster and they are far more proactive in everything they do. Their entire business is highly customer-focused, which certainly wasn’t the case previously.”
The Circle Express trucks at 18 tonnes gvw and above are serviced under Mercedes-Benz repair and maintenance contracts; smaller units are handled in-house.
“Rygor’s parts and technical back-up is first-rate,” continues Mr Coffey, “while the dealer has also been providing driver training. Mercedes-Benz is a premium brand and its products have always been very reliable, so now that we also have the right back-up I look forward to seeing the relationship between our two companies flourish over the next 25 years.” |
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