The work ranges from minor road repairs to emergency repairs, large scale resurfacing and winter gritting and snowploughing. A variety of DAF chassis, bodies and equipment have been specified to cover each of these tasks with several of the vehicles designed to perform more than one role. The fleet is dispersed to depots throughout the county.

“The availability of well proven chassis across a range of gross weights was a key factor in our decision to choose DAF for this contract,” says Ringway’s Fleet Manager Gary Condon. “We needed 7.5 tonners, 10 tonners and 18 tonners and DAF’s dealer Channel Commercials were able to meet those needs exactly. They are also providing repair and maintenance support for the trucks under a Service Level Agreement.”

Both minor patching and emergency repairs are being carried out using 36 DAF LF45 tippers. Thirty-three are 7.5 tonne models and three are 10 tonners, all powered by the 3.9 litre BE engine rated at 150 bhp (110 kW) and 170 bhp (123 kW) respectively.

Each has a ‘Workstation’ double dropside tipping body by Kerand Automotive of Dover. These are insulated for carrying tarmac using Kerand’s unique ‘slabbed foam’ system and have a narrow tarmac chute fitted into the rear tailgate. Behind the cab there is a large cabinet containing a heated compartment for personal protective equipment, a washbasin, and a separate toolbox storage area. A hitch is fitted to tow machinery trailers or compressors and three of the 7.5 tonners have built-in Gardner Denver compressors to power pneumatic tools.

For larger jobs, along with gritting and snowploughing, there are 36 DAF LF55s. Plated at 18 tonnes, all have the CE162C engine matched to a six-speed gearbox. This delivers 220 bhp (162 kW) at 2500 rpm and 820 Nm of torque between 1200 and 1700 rpm.

Twenty-five of the DAFs have permanent gritter bodies and seven have demountable bodies by Econ. One is fitted with Hyva hookloader equipment and will be used to carry a gritter body, portable welfare units and asphalt waste recycling skips. Three have Palfinger cranes with grab buckets. Snowplough brackets are fitted to most of these vehicles.

All 72 vehicles at fitted with gps satellite navigation equipment to enable their location to be precisely tracked. This will enable faster response to emergencies, as the nearest available vehicle can be quickly identified. Further development of the system will also allow data to be transmitted to each vehicle, such as job cards and other work information.

In-service support for the fleet is being provided from Channel Commercials four facilities in Kent. These are open 24 hours a day and offer a range of services from routine maintenance to major mechanical overhauls, accident repair work, painting and signwriting.

The Kent contract was awarded in Ringway’s 30th anniversary year. Today the company provides a full range of highway maintenance services to local authorities throughout the UK and undertakes airfield maintenance work. It operates a fleet of more than 2,000 vehicles.