Here’s a good test of a truck and the availability of new trucks. Leedale buys two Mercedes Arocs 8×4 tipper grabs and two from a competing manufacturer (who shall remain nameless here). Some ten months on, two more trucks are needed and the deal goes to Mercedes-Benz.
The trucks themselves must have played a large part in the repeat order heading towards Mercedes dealer, Rygor Commercials, but consider too that the deal was done and the trucks were delivered inside a fortnight. That should be enough to clinch even a close deal. Like their predecessors, Leedale’s new trucks had been pre-built for Rygor’s WorkReady programme, so were supplied from stock.
So impressed is Leedale with the 8×4 Arocs, and with the rapid turnarounds achieved by Rygor, that the Dealer is now firmly established as its preferred construction truck partner.
Leedale became one of the UK’s first customers for Arocs tipper-grabs equipped with Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ MirrorCam technology when it commissioned their first pair of eight-wheelers in January 2020 – also arriving from stock via the Mercedes WorkReady programme.
The Arocs Specification
They have ClassicSpace M-cabs and, as 3240K variants, with 10.7-litre ‘straight-six’ engines which produce 394 hp and drive through 12-speed Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated manual transmissions.
The trucks’ steel Loadmaster bodies are by Thompson, and their Palfinger Epsilon M125L Classic cranes work with Kinshofer clamshell buckets. Safety equipment, meanwhile, includes a 360-degree camera and side-scanning system to protect vulnerable road users, as well as LED strobe lighting front and rear, and a roof-mounted LED beacon bar.
Fast-growing Leedale is based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, and operates a fleet of 50 trucks, 20 of them sweepers. Of the remaining tippers, tipper-grabs and flat-beds with Hiab cranes, 17 now wear three-pointed stars – Rygor also delivered six WorkReady 8×4 Arocs tippers with wing mirrors late last year.
The Truck Buyer
Established in 1989 by Lee Walkup, Leedale is a well-established supplier to main contractors, consultancies, developers and public sector clients in the East Midlands. The company provides a comprehensive portfolio of muckaway, aggregates, demolition and general haulage services, as well as waste management, and vehicle and plant hire. It has also seen a surge in demand during the Covid-19 pandemic from homeowners, garden designers and landscapers, for deliveries of one-tonne bags of materials.
Led by Managing Director Oliver Walkup, the founder’s son, Leedale has now embarked on a major expansion programme, its aim being to tender for and win new contracts on a national basis. To this end, it has set its sights on upgrading its current Bronze FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) accreditation to Silver at the earliest opportunity, and has just appointed its first National Sales Manager.
As previously, Leedale took advantage of competitive funding support from Mercedes-Benz Finance to acquire its latest Arocs. Ms Smith observed: “Leedale has built a great reputation and excellent client relationships over more than 30 years, by offering a first-class service.
“That’s also what we’ve received from Rygor Commercials. Its Truck Sales Executive Marcus Cahalin has been both efficient and responsive in delivering our Arocs within a couple of weeks of the orders being placed, while the vehicles are also perfectly specified for the job.”
Marcus Cahalin added: “Leedale is a business that’s clearly going places, and it wants to get there as quickly as possible. For customers like this, who need their new trucks with minimal delay, Rygor’s WorkReady programme has all the answers.”