Capacity of new vans improved for greengrocer

A leading supplier of quality fresh produce has gained 20 per cent extra capacity in its new fleet of chiller vans after working with experts in lightweight refrigerated transport solutions.

Oliver Kay Produce operates a fleet of over 90 refrigerated vehicles and every day 100 drivers deliver fresh fruit and vegetables to customers around the UK.

Nigel Mason, group transport manager for Oliver Kay Produce, said: “We needed to replace nine of our existing vehicles and felt it was also a good time to assess our carbon footprint and seek ways to be more efficient on fuel and energy.”

Nigel knew exactly who to contact to find out which vehicle could provide them with the best solution and that was CoolKit.

He said: “CoolKit are recognised experts within the industry in the provision of lightweight transport solutions, so I got in touch and talked through my needs with their technical department.

“They understood my need to improve capacity while reducing costs and carbon footprint and returned with a specification fit for purpose.”

That specification was a Volkswagen Crafter chiller box van with a medium wheelbase chassis, offering a payload of 1142kg.

The vehicle design saw the fridge placed under the chassis, in order to improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle and further aerodynamic surroundings, cab deflectors and side wings were to be added in order to maximise fuel efficiency and airflow. 

Nigel said: “I was really blown away by the level of detail which went into specifying our vehicles and the payload they offered was the best I’ve ever known. 

“Each new van has 20 per cent additional capacity, which stops us from having to swap items from van to van to meet weight restrictions and better still, it means we can condense delivery runs, which also helps cut costs.”

While CoolKit wasn’t required to carry out the livery or telematics on the vans, Nigel was impressed with the levels of professionalism and organisation they demonstrated when working with these third-party teams. 

He said: “CoolKit took the details of these organisations and sorted out for them to come to site to carry out installs as part of their own build process.

“It really did help us reduce frustrating downtime and it was huge help taking it out of our hands and sorting out.”