Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has agreed a trial with the UK’s leading business-to-business express operator, TNT Express, for ten of its Crafter single chassis cabs with a box van conversion.
TNT delivers up to 150 million items per annum and has the largest individual share of the national market.
The vans have received a box conversion by Altrincham specialists Cartwright, to the specific requirements of TNT. The Crafters will be based at TNT’s Bristol depot, and were purchased through Volkswagen’s Van Centre in Manchester.
Alastair Hemmings, National Fleet Manager for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ said: ‘The trial with TNT is a great way of demonstrating the different uses of a Crafter chassis cab and the range of conversions we can offer our customers via our Van Centre network.’
‘Compared with a standard 7.5-tonne vehicle, the five-tonne Crafter will give TNT more flexibility in deliveries and save on running costs, particularly with the fuel efficient engines and very competitive whole life costs,’ he continued.
Steve Davis, National Engineering Manager TNT Express Services UK & Ireland, said: ‘Once a decision was made to re-evaluate our current fleet we researched the market place to find manufacturers of five-tonne vehicles that fit the company’s requirements.
‘We will be monitoring the cabs over an average annual mileage of around 30,000 miles and hope to make decisions about our van capacity and vehicle range in the next 12 months.
‘As with all our fleet vehicles, the Crafter will be assessed on a variety of points including fuel economy, operational activity, ease of maintenance and driver evaluation.’
Full details of the Crafter range are available at www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk, or by calling 0800 717131
