Legal Brief
Menzies go "Forward" With Isuzu
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Company purchases 20 new Isuzu 7.5t trucks as well as Scotland’s first 18 tonne Isuzu.
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With several years proven experience of running Isuzu trucks at 7.5 tonnes, leading newspaper distributor Menzies Distribution were one of the first company’s in the UK to place an order for the new "Forward" N75.190 7.5 tonne trucks that was recently launched at the CV Show by Isuzu Truck UK.
In fact, the Scottish based company has already started taking delivery of the first of 20 new 7.5t Forward Isuzu’s, with these being purchased as a mix of both additional new trucks as well as replacement vehicles for some of the remaining non-Isuzu 7.5 tonners in the fleet.
At the same time, Menzies has also confirmed it has placed an order for one of the new Isuzu "Forward" F180.260 (18 tonne rigid), the first one in the company’s fleet and the first of the new range for any Scottish company.
Confirming the deal, Stuart McLean, Logistics Manager at Menzies Distribution said, "The substantial payload advantage of the Isuzu range, matched by the proven reliability and fuel economy of the vehicles, are critical factors in our 7-day newspaper and magazine distribution operation. Since we took our first Isuzu four years ago, the Isuzu product has more than exceeded our expectations, which is why we have had no hesitation in continuing our relationship with Isuzu with their impressive new product range."
All 20 of the new Isuzu 7.5 tonne vehicles feature the EasyShift transmission and have fast track curtain sided bodies. According to Menzies Distribution, Isuzu is now the first choice at 7.5 tonnes, representing over 50% of the company’s fleet at this weight range.
"Without doubt, Isuzu are an extremely customer focused company, which we feel is a major plus point in their favour and now we have the added bonus of a full 3-years warranty on all vehicles including the new 18 tonne truck which we will get later in the year," added Stuart. "If we did have a slight complaint about the previous Isuzu range it was that drivers were critical about the size of the cab and the uncomfortable seating. But this is where Isuzu has shown itself to be customer aware and has listened. The new cabs on the Forward range have addressed these areas of concern."
The relationship between Isuzu and Menzies Distribution goes back to 2004. At that time, Menzies took its first ever Isuzu, a 7.5 tonne NQR with a manual transmission, on an initial trial period with the company looking principally at the payload claims experienced by other Isuzu operators.
"There was only one thing that initially attracted us to the Isuzu product in the early days and that was payload. More often than not, our vehicles deliver every morning using the maximum payload available. With the Isuzu, we were able to reach increased payloads of around 400 kg – representing approximately a 12% increase – in comparison to the other 7.5 tonne vehicles in our fleet. As a result, we have increased our Isuzu fleet gradually based on this attraction. However, over time we also found that the Isuzu provided us with the added benefit of superb reliability, again proving to be more reliable than the other 7.5 tonne vehicles that we operated," explained Stuart McLean.
A year after the introduction of the first Isuzu into the Menzies fleet, the company introduced a fuel monitoring system across all the fleet, to identify which vehicles were achieving the best fuel consumption. As a result of this, Menzies identified that with their type of multi-drop operation the Isuzu NQR returns a 14% improvement over the other 7.5 tonne vehicles in the fleet which, according to Menzies, equates to around £1300 per annum per vehicle based on an average annual vehicle mileage of 30,000 miles.
"In essence, our proven operating experience with Isuzu over the last four years has thrown up not just the payload benefit that we were expecting, but also the added bonus of product reliability and outstanding fuel economy, a triple success for us," commented Stuart.
Menzies Distribution run a fleet of 480 commercial vehicles from 3.5 tonnes up to 26 tonnes, and all the latest new Isuzu trucks have been purchased through Isuzu’s local Scottish dealer AM Phillip. The Menzies vehicle fleet operates on a time critical wholesale newspaper and magazine distribution cycle from 37 sites delivering to 22,000 customers across the UK each day.
In fact, the Scottish based company has already started taking delivery of the first of 20 new 7.5t Forward Isuzu’s, with these being purchased as a mix of both additional new trucks as well as replacement vehicles for some of the remaining non-Isuzu 7.5 tonners in the fleet.
At the same time, Menzies has also confirmed it has placed an order for one of the new Isuzu "Forward" F180.260 (18 tonne rigid), the first one in the company’s fleet and the first of the new range for any Scottish company.
Confirming the deal, Stuart McLean, Logistics Manager at Menzies Distribution said, "The substantial payload advantage of the Isuzu range, matched by the proven reliability and fuel economy of the vehicles, are critical factors in our 7-day newspaper and magazine distribution operation. Since we took our first Isuzu four years ago, the Isuzu product has more than exceeded our expectations, which is why we have had no hesitation in continuing our relationship with Isuzu with their impressive new product range."
All 20 of the new Isuzu 7.5 tonne vehicles feature the EasyShift transmission and have fast track curtain sided bodies. According to Menzies Distribution, Isuzu is now the first choice at 7.5 tonnes, representing over 50% of the company’s fleet at this weight range.
"Without doubt, Isuzu are an extremely customer focused company, which we feel is a major plus point in their favour and now we have the added bonus of a full 3-years warranty on all vehicles including the new 18 tonne truck which we will get later in the year," added Stuart. "If we did have a slight complaint about the previous Isuzu range it was that drivers were critical about the size of the cab and the uncomfortable seating. But this is where Isuzu has shown itself to be customer aware and has listened. The new cabs on the Forward range have addressed these areas of concern."
The relationship between Isuzu and Menzies Distribution goes back to 2004. At that time, Menzies took its first ever Isuzu, a 7.5 tonne NQR with a manual transmission, on an initial trial period with the company looking principally at the payload claims experienced by other Isuzu operators.
"There was only one thing that initially attracted us to the Isuzu product in the early days and that was payload. More often than not, our vehicles deliver every morning using the maximum payload available. With the Isuzu, we were able to reach increased payloads of around 400 kg – representing approximately a 12% increase – in comparison to the other 7.5 tonne vehicles in our fleet. As a result, we have increased our Isuzu fleet gradually based on this attraction. However, over time we also found that the Isuzu provided us with the added benefit of superb reliability, again proving to be more reliable than the other 7.5 tonne vehicles that we operated," explained Stuart McLean.
A year after the introduction of the first Isuzu into the Menzies fleet, the company introduced a fuel monitoring system across all the fleet, to identify which vehicles were achieving the best fuel consumption. As a result of this, Menzies identified that with their type of multi-drop operation the Isuzu NQR returns a 14% improvement over the other 7.5 tonne vehicles in the fleet which, according to Menzies, equates to around £1300 per annum per vehicle based on an average annual vehicle mileage of 30,000 miles.
"In essence, our proven operating experience with Isuzu over the last four years has thrown up not just the payload benefit that we were expecting, but also the added bonus of product reliability and outstanding fuel economy, a triple success for us," commented Stuart.
Menzies Distribution run a fleet of 480 commercial vehicles from 3.5 tonnes up to 26 tonnes, and all the latest new Isuzu trucks have been purchased through Isuzu’s local Scottish dealer AM Phillip. The Menzies vehicle fleet operates on a time critical wholesale newspaper and magazine distribution cycle from 37 sites delivering to 22,000 customers across the UK each day.
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