ATS Euromaster Invests £4.5 million in Fleet

ATS Euromaster has begun to receive the products of the company’s £4.5 million investment, comprising in the main new Mercedes-Benz Sprinters, Iveco Dailys and Renault Kangoos. A total of 150 new light commercial vehicles will be integrated into the firm’s operations as part of its fleet replacement programme for 2008. The vans are leased on four to five-year rental agreements.

Designed to take on specific roles in the fleet, the delivery includes mobile fitting vans for both cars and commercial vehicles, frontline rapid-response vehicles for providing emergency roadside assistance, flatbeds equipped to transport agricultural tyres and smaller vans for use in the company’s mobile fleet inspection department.

Tim Richards, Group Vehicle and Equipment Manager at ATS Euromaster, was keen to emphasise safety considerations as a primary reason for the fleet refreshment: “The nature of our business and our commitment to health and safety means each vehicle is built to a comprehensive specification, with an average of £15,000 spent on equipping each mobile service van with the specialist tools required for our technicians to operate safely.”

Richards also mentioned the innovative aspect of the transformation: “As part of this latest delivery we are trialling a new mobile truck tyre fitting machine which will enable us to fit tyres at a customers’ site more quickly, efficiently and safely. The machine reduces the need to lift heavy truck tyres manually and helps to protect the beads, which in turn should lead to an even higher casing acceptance rate for remould programmes.”

Each new vehicle is equipped with LED lights and a roof-mounted light bar to ensure maximum visibility on the road. They are expected to cover up to 25,000 miles a year, joining a total fleet of approximately 1,200 light commercial vehicles and 400 cars that operate throughout the UK, supporting ATS Euromaster’s network of 490 centres nationwide.