A G Barr, the Scottish branded soft drinks business famous for its well-known IRN BRU brand, has received delivery of Cartwright curtainsiders, replacing its old trailer fleet.
The curtainsiders have been purchased through Coatbridge-based CEM Scotland, the independent LCV and HGV service and repair company, which has built a strong relationship with A G Barr. CEM will be responsible for the repair and maintenance of the new curtainsider fleet.
A G Barr has a UK-wide network of sites in the UK including the company’s head office in Cumbernauld and branches at Bolton, Forfar, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Sheffield, Walthamstow and Wednesbury.
In the past A G Barr had hired Cartwright trailers through CEM on an ad hoc basis. Gary Campbell, Transport Manager for A G Barr explained: “Some of our older trailers are up to 20 years old and needed to be replaced as we had not invested in new trailers for a number of years. These new curtainsiders have replaced a mix of our old owned trailers and some long-term hire trailers.”
The livery on the trailers is divided half and half between IRN-BRU EXTRA and IRN-BRU SUGAR FREE.
All of the curtainsiders are EN XL rated and two are fitted with chock rails which allows delivery of a bespoke product to two major supermarkets.
“These new curtainsiders are standard type which enables us to be more flexible with our loading whereas previously there was a mix of tautliners and standard types so that had a bearing on the loading depending on the customer base,” said Gary Campbell.
“By having a standardised fleet, this allows the trailers to be used for all our customers,” he said. “Previously we had to work in a way to ensure we had a certain amount of standard trailers to satisfy customers with dock levels and rear delivery plates.”
Gary Campbell confirmed that A G Barr is delighted with the ‘excellent’ quality of the Cartwright curtainsiders. The reaction from drivers has been very positive.
“The drivers were very complimentary about the rental trailers we had before. Feedback on the new trailers has been very positive indeed.”
He added: “We have a very good relationship with CEM and wish to cement our relationship with them as a partner and these trailers were bought through them. They have a 10 year contract with us for repair and maintenance,”.
Nicky Korankye, Financial Director of CEM commented: “We are delighted that A G Barr is very pleased with the excellent quality of the Cartwright trailers we recently provided and look forward to a long-term partnership with them.”