A national meat delivery specialist has taken on a fresh batch of refrigerated vehicles to increase its delivery service of home-produced carcases and primal cuts.
Weddel Swift has signed long-term contracts with Petit Forestier, with which it has traded in the past, to hire a batch of Mercedes 5.6t box-bodied vans.
Weddel Swift's Colin Dutton said: “We opted for 5.6t because they will afford us better manoeuvrability and lower fuel consumption than larger vehicles - their capacity nearly equals that of our 7.5t vehicles. Access can be quite restricted at some of our high street delivery points.”
The new vehicles will begin their service out of Weddel Swift's two distribution depots in Newcastle and Leeds and have been adapted, with safety in mind, by East Sussex-based company RVL.
Dutton added: “The rear section of the meat rails in the new vehicles has been designed to drop down and then return to their normal position. This enables drivers to load and offload the hanging meat from ground level rather than step height.”