spring 2003

the Montracon magazine

Montraconthe world’s toughest trailers

Montracon Limited, Carr Hill, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 8DETelephone: +44 (0)1302 732500 Facsimilie: +44 (0)1302 732502

email: sales@montracon.com website: www.montracon.comFactories in Doncaster, Northern Ireland, Woodville and Market Weighton

‘toughtalk’

on the road, on the starting grid...on the web!

Meet the MuscleWhat’s new with Montracon

Top TeamMeet the boys that keepyou rolling

toughtalk

We’ve got a solid convert in Angela Knox,

transport manager at East Anglia Federal

Co-op. After trying the rest, she’s opted for the

best. In Angela’s demanding business,

distributing chilled and ambient temperature

products to stores across East Anglia, reliability

and added value for money is all-important.

Other trailers haven’t measured up for Angela in

the past, so she thoroughly quizzed us during

two plant visits before committing to her first

Montracon reefer in 2001. She wasn’t

disappointed then – or now. Since the first, the

Want to know more about Montracon trailers, about how you can makeyour operation more efficient than ever?

We’ve all the information you need, all at the click of a mouse when you visitwww.montracon.com - our home on the web.

Full spec details, the latest news, operator support and much, muchmore is waiting there for you.

Better yet, when you visit, you will be eligible for all kinds of specialpromotional gifts and giveaways, such as free Montracon fleeces –now, boot up that computer – how can you resist?

the only choiceGoing Montracon pays divvies for the Co-op

we’re on the web!Almost as good as the real thing -

Pg 3

trailertalkMontracon, on the web, on the startinggrid…learn more in our fast-track newssection!

Pg 4

a trailer for allreasonsThree companies tell us why they chose Montracon.

Pg 6

meet the muscleWhat’s new with Montracon. We feature atrailer and a new chassis at this year’s CVShow.

Co-op’s ongoing trailer replacement

programme has led Angela to taking on three

further reefers and a rigid fridge from us and

this year, she will add another four Montracon

trailers to the 47-vehicle fleet. Pg 8

the listening companyWhy Widdowson has stuck with us for over 20 years.

Pg 9

double deck- twice as niceGeopost get more with Montracon.

Pg 10

men on topThe decision makers that keep Montracon motoring.

www.montracon.com

We’re looking forward to a long

association with Angela and the Co-op

refrigerated distribution arm – that’s what

we call a cool partnership!

All you need and want to know about Britain’s leadingtrailer maker on… www.montracon.com

contents

trailertalkinbrief

First Trailersno Menace to Dennis

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The experts in value and the experts in trailer transport together?

It’s perfect Co-operation!

It’s been a warm receptionover at Dennis Distribution fortheir first Montracontemperature controlled trailers!

When Malton-based Dennis,running 18 max-weight articsand 25 reefers, contacted usto replace two trailers, Richard

Dale responded immediately.As our Transport Manager,Richard always trys to puthimself in the client’s shoes, tounderstand their needs fully.He says:

small family firm,Dennis needs qualityequipment, built to lastin harsh workingenvironments,particularly around heavyloading equipment. Withthe in-built resilience ofour trailers, we had theperfect answer.

Happily, Dennis made theTough choice. Both trailerswere supplied on time and arealready earning their keep,serving a healthy mix ofcustomers from RDCs to retailoutlets. It looks like Montracon willdefinitely figure in DennisDistribution’s futurereplacement programmes.

””

toughtalk

Without Montracon, it’s a fair bet GeoffBurton and the crew at Knapp Goodwin Ltdwouldn't even get onthe starting grid!

Pole Position Worldwide Nestle andMontraconbrewing up quality

As specialists in dressing the world’s motorracing circuit’s prestigeous hospitalityvenues, Knapp Goodwin already relies ontwo bespoke trailers from us and has athird on order for the 2003 season.The purpose-built trailers carry everythingneeded to put the show on the road.They are step frame vans mounted on17.5" wheels – to squeeze the greatest

We may get swollen heads. Just reid (!) this:

“To maintain the high level of service we offer our customers, we have committed to using quality fleet through the use of Montracon Trailers.

“We have found Montracon trailers to have lower running and depreciation costs and higher specification standards. We have also found that Montracon Trailers are both durable and indeed strong enough to withstand the rigours of everyday use!”

Praise indeed from Liam Reid, Managing Director of the Reid Group, which operates a dailyexpress road freight service across Ireland, the UK and Europe from Cloughmills, County.Antrim, via a network of strategically located depots and logistics facilities that guaranteethe Reid promise of “Tomorrow’s Service Today”

Reid, all about hi-tech transport

The Group, established in 1980 on theformation of Reid Transport, is now one ofIreland’s leading freight forwarding andlogistics players.

Suffice to say, we are very happy incontinuing to be a vital part of that success.

Hot news! We’vebrewed up theperfect trailer forNestle UK! As makers of some of the world’sfavourite foods, ensuring customersatisfaction is Nestle’s number one aim,so they naturally chose Montracon tomake them a tasty unit that gives them anoptimum fill capacity.

The unit accommodates all heights ofpallet, offering greater flexibility for filland pallet utilisation.

The first units, liveried with Nescafe,have already rolled out of UK RDCs, butwe’ve got to admit, what we’re reallylooking forward to seeing is the firstMontracon Yorkie trailer – now that’s atrue trucker’s dream trailer!

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cube out of the maximum legal envelope –and to speed their pressured schedules, allare fitted with Dhollondia cantilever tail-liftsthat double as loading ramps.The Banbury-based fleet's only home fixturethis year is the British Grand Prix atSilverstone, otherwise it spends some eightmonths of the year abroad. It’s a hard lifeclearly, however, travelling with and meetingthe racing elite must have its upside!

We’re proud of the fact that Montracon trailers are known for being built to be more than tough enough.

But equally, we take pride in giving customers exactly the trailers theyneed to get the job done well. Here are just three recent examples that

proves Montracon has a trailer for all reasons!

toughtalk

Greater payload capacity, easier servicing and reducedlead times, both on standard and specialised versions,are the major pluses offered up by an improved andsuperior Clearwater, the first inductee to our newgeneration of trailers.

Innovation, resilience and adaptability featurethroughout the Clearwater, making it the ultimate infast, flexible and strong trailers. Modular add-ons cannow be pre-built off line and immediately mounteddirectly to the chassis, either to create the 'standard'trailer and/or to add features needed by your specificoperating requirements.

The pre-drilled super-structure and bolted constructionof the trailers has multiple benefits such as easiermaintenance and, should the unavoidable happen,swift and easy accident repair benefits.

Of course, strengthening to vital points of the framesuch as the posts, front bulkhead and cargo lashingpoints offers far greater safety and function than before.

Never doing things by half, this year we’ve outdone ourselves.Now the Montracon choice is bigger, better – and tougher – thanever. Lucky you!

All the models, revealed at this year’s CV Show in Birmingham,mark a newly invigorated Montracon, consolidating our positionas the first choice for operators in Britain and Ireland.

meet the newmuscle

Clear-ly superior

All welded construction is retained for the chassis, which includeseasy park sliding side posts, EBS, disc brakes and LED side markerlights - all as standard. In addition, all below the side rave doublesas the foundation for a new flat platform model, with platformskeletals and dry freight vans also yet to come.

Your options are near endless with Clearwater.

Whatever you need, or indeed, whateveryou don’t need, you get exactly what yourequire from Montracon.

And if that requirement is a curtainsiderwithout side pillars – well then, that’s whatyou’ll get. This version of our newClearwater typifies our adaptable, market-led approach and exactly why thetrailer is the cornerstone of Montracon’s newgeneration – set to include flats, platformskeletals, step decks and dry freight vans.

As visitors to the 2003 CV Show learnt,flexibility is at the heart of Montracon. We will change and evolve our vehicles tosuit you – after all, why should you modifyyour needs to suit our trailers?

In this case, deep beam chassis railsprovide the strength, along with bulkheadstrengtheners built in to the front section

and tough rear pillars enables the sidepillarless version to remain sturdy. The latter is bolted into deep chassis

To Have and Have Notmounted gussets to improve frame strengthand rigidity while protecting against chassiscracking.

Super skeletalCompleting the gang, we are breakingnew ground in skeletals by developing oneable to handle all containers withinmaximum legal overall length limitations.

And, if proof were needed that we areonto a winner, pre-orders for around 150from operators seeing the initial prototypehad been stacked by the time it completedits in-service trials!

Key to the trailer's versatility are the hingedrear bolsters and the sliding rear bogie,numerous permutations of twistlockpositions and bogie location making itsimple to accommodate all containers upto and including the 45' unit commonly

used in North America. Our super skeletal is going to beyour flexible friend…or has someone said that before?

– Clearwater, the best curtainsider yet

– It’s all up to you

– the most flexible skeletal trailer ever

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toughtalk

As Integrated logistics experts theWiddowson Group become foundermembers of a revolutionary industry initiative,you can be sure Montracon is along for theride, furthering an ongoing relationship withthe Group stretching back two decades.

The JIGSAW initiative promises a truecompetitive choice in national transportsolutions. JIGSAW is an alliance of regionalhauliers and warehouse, pallet andmanagement resource providers. Thealliance threatens to challenge less flexibleand cost-effective competitors and providea real alternative to ‘the big boys’.

The combined operating resources withinJIGSAW offer national UK coverage on ascale to rival the largest operators.Collectively operating 30 sites, with morethan 1,200 vehicles and a fleet topping2,000 trailers, JIGSAW claims unmatchableflexibility and keen pricing.

For the more-than-a-century-old WiddowsonGroup, it is a business step that couldpotentially boost their fleet requirements by50% – and it’s more than likely that thosetrailers will be Montracon ones.

Harry Hawksworth, Technical Director for theLeicester-based company has just placed anorder for 50 new curtainsider units with us,part of a huge investment programme bringingWiddowson’s trailer strength up to 160 –largely curtainsiders and largely Montracon,we’re proud to say.

Harry’s reasoning for this is admirably succinct:

“ They’re a topcompany with toppieces of kit.Montracon alwayslisten to the customerand deliver the goods – just like us.If JIGSAW takes off as it is expected to, theWiddowson Group fleet will need to grow toaround 150 tractors and rigids, with the trailerfleet growing pro-rata. Not bad for a companythat began as a one-vehicle coal merchant –and you can be sure we will support themevery mile of the way.

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GeoPost (UK)’s director of risk & transport Charlie Shiels clearlyloves his double deckers.

In fact, for Parceline, part of theGeoPost (UK) group, he has justordered another 96 deckers fromus, joining the existing 170-strongfleet to give them the largestdouble D fleet in the UK expressparcels industry.

The bulk of its trailer fleet, bothfixed and moving deck units, bearthe Montracon badge. Byswitching to our new doubledecker, Parceline will boostuseable deck area to nearly 65m2

and available payload cube byaround 20% (the latter comparedto a standard van).

Mr Shiels said, “For me,Montracon understand our needsand meet them over and over. The benefit of the deckers lie inreducing fleet movements with theknock-on gains in vehicle costmanagement. But just asimportantly to Parceline, wereduce traffic congestion and

pollution in line with our corporateenvironmental policy.”

There’s even an added bonus. Mr Shiels has pinpointed anemployment plus:

“The increased trailercapacity provided byMontracon could alsoprovide some answers tothe industry-wide drivershortage problem.

Glad we could be of service. Nextproblem please!

Geopost on boardwith double deckersTwice as nice

”

Parceline’s business in the UK is primarilythe next-day, express delivery of parcelsand documents. Parceline, through sistercompany Chronopost International, provideglobal air express deliveries to 220countries. The company is also asignificant operator in the UK freight andlogistics market.

The GeoPost network in the UK has 170strategically-sited depots, a 26 acresuperhub at the confluence of the M5 andM6, a national logistics centre, a nationalcustomer service centre and a second huband distribution centre in Manchester.

”

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toughtalk

Top support team 1. John BryantManaging DirectorJohn joined Montracon in the latter part of 2002,following a near 40-year career covering allaspects of the commercial vehicle business atsenior levels - up to and including managingdirector - with major North American and Europeanmanufacturers. His assembly of a newmanagement team continues to introduce changesalready achieving positive results in the factory,within sales and service and in the market place.

3. Michael DringFinance DirectorStarting in regional audit practice, Michael soon gotthe taste for industry, quickly progressing into seniorfinance positions in industries as diverse as quarryingand wholesale distribution. Michael joined us in 2001from the passenger vehicle industry. He is a qualifiedChartered Management Accountant.

2. Paul MeadSales & Marketing DirectorPaul joined us in Sept 2002 as sales & marketingdirector, bringing more than 30-years experience in thetruck industry, covering both aftermarket and trucksales, the latter at regional director and distributorprincipal levels across a number of marques.

4. Albert WilderFactory Manager - DoncasterWith more than 25 years in works study, factoryplanning and factory management, Albert Wilder is anapprentice trained chartered engineer. His experiencecovers a number of senior roles up to and includingfactory director in companies employing up to 500people and making a wide range of products fromweighing equipment to vehicles.

5. Andrew JacksonFactory Manager – Market WeightonWith a strong production and engineeringbackground, Andrew Jackson came to us in 1999.His experience covers time in the tank andbodybuilding sectors, with his hands-on experiencebacked by an academic management qualificationgained at Huddersfield University Business School.

9. Vernon SymondsonCustomer Services ManagerStarting as an apprentice mechanic with an own-account operator, Vernon spent 14 years with theFTA as a vehicle/records inspector before a briefreturn to the haulage industry. A subsequent moveinto truck sales as dealership manager gave Vernonin-depth experience of service and repair depots forvehicles used in the petro-chemical business.

6. Tony BrownlessFactory Manager - WoodvilleTony is a manufacturing man through and through.Spending 16-years as a time-served engineer withGE Lighting Ltd before setting up his ownengineering business, three further steps, includingstudying to be an electrician en-route, preceded hisappointment as a chief engineering manager andthen factory manager, again in lighting. He joined usin January this year.

8. Martin Histed Engineering ManagerStarting as an apprentice draughtsman, MartinHisted has clocked up almost 27 years working forsome of the most respected names in the trailerindustry. He has seen and dealt with a string ofimportant changes - not least to 38 tonnes gcw, theintroduction of air suspension, ABS, side guards,spray suppression, rear under run bumpers and,more recently, the increase to 44 tonnes gcw andthe application of EBS.

11. Tony KeenParts ManagerTony has been involved on the parts side of thecommercial vehicle business since 1979 with both Ford& Slater and Lex Commercials. He joined Montracon inDecember 2002 from Lex Commercials where he wasparts manager for the company's depots at Derby,Nottingham and Sutton.

10. Preston LovegroveDirector of Aftermarket Preston switched career to the transport industry onassuming control of a fleet transporting breeding stockacross the UK and Europe. Subsequently, he joinedLex Commercials as general operations managercovering three outlets. After six successful years,Preston moved to Renault Trucks UK as directorgeneral manager, responsible for four wholly ownedmain dealer sites. He joined us in September 2002.

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Sam Miskelly– Group Purchasing ManagerSam has given 33 years to the trailer industry, 25of them here at Montracon. He started off as abuyer/storeman, part of a small team of about 20people building 5 trailers per week at the MalluskSite. He was appointed group purchasingmanager for all sites in 1988.

Colin Montgomery – Factory Manager - IrelandColin Montgomery joined Montracon in December2002, having previously worked in commercial vehiclesales for the local Renault truck dealer and, before that,as fleet engineer for a medium sized haulage company.

7. Bryan LindleyMaterials ManagerBryan began his career in the buying department atCarrymaster Trailers and has progressed steadilyfrom there through the trailer industry hierarchy -arriving at Doncaster via Cravens Homalloy atSheffield. Bryan's material purchasing responsibilitiesinclude materials storage and distribution.

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