The new fleet will distribute Briggs' Cat counterbalanced and warehouse forklifts across the UK.

The UK's national Cat Lift Truck distributor and service provider, Briggs Equipment, has invested in a new fleet of transport equipment as part of a five-year contract hire agreement with Ryder.

The new fleet consists of seven customised trailer vans including drivers that will distribute Briggs' Cat counterbalanced and warehouse forklifts across the UK.

Briggs transport manager Shaun Dennis says Ryder was chosen to provide the fleet because it met the forklift distributor's specifications.

"After reviewing several suppliers, Ryder was chosen due to their flexibility, pricing and ability to cover all aspects of our requirements," Dennis says.

He adds that Ryder allowed Briggs to have direct input regarding equipment specification and to be involved with the driver selection.

Briggs and Ryder worked with Andover Trailers to develop two different types of trailer vans. They were two wheel-box FKWB36 trailers and five step-frame SFCL36FT trailers.

"This is our first major order from Ryder, and these are very special trailers indeed for us as they have been in development for two years and is one of the most intricate designs Andover Trailers has produced for some time," says Ivan Collins, Andover Trailers' sales director.

According to Briggs, specification modifications for the vehicles include the step frames having a very shallow angle loading ramp, short neck and internal hydraulic floors to allow equipment to be driven onto the swan neck with ease. The tri-axles on the wheel-box trailers have increased the distance between the wheel boxes to allow wider trucks to be driven through the wheel box area.

The value of the contract is about GBP4.5 million (USD7.2 million).

Prior to the contract, Briggs had its own fleet of five curtain-sided trailers. Ad hoc arrangements were made to cover unusual machines or spikes in demand, adding to the company's costs and negatively impacting on the customer experience. Briggs has retained three of its original fleet and the additional seven Ryder Trailers has doubled its transport fleet's size.