With pic L to R: Tim White, Fleet Operations Manager, SFS; Caroline Roffey, Head of Street Scene Services, HBBC; Darren Moore, Business Development & Waste Manager, HBBC; and Cllr Mark Nickerson, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, HBBC.
A brand-new fleet of waste and recycling vehicles has been delivered to Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council and is already carrying out collections as part of a seamless changeover from the old fleet.
Caroline Roffey, Head of Street Scene Services, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council said: “There has been a smooth transition, thanks to our service provider, which has meant there has been no disruption to services.”
The new fleet of 20 vehicles comprises a combination of refuse collection vehicles, recycling collection vehicles, sweepers, box vans and a hook lift. The council awarded the 7-year contract hire agreement to Specialist Fleet Services Ltd (SFS) earlier this year, following a comprehensive tender procurement process, which compared contract hire with outright purchase. The results showed contract hire to be most cost and risk effective.
Caroline commented: “We have been working with SFS for over 14 years so we are delighted to continue our excellent working relationship. The team at SFS have provided continual support and advice to ensure that every vehicle specification meets both our requirements and budget.”
Bob Sweetland, Managing Director, SFS: “We are delighted the vehicle switch over has gone smoothly and to have retained Hinckley & Bosworth as one of our most long-standing customers. Minimising any disruption to frontline services is a key priority for us, not just at the start but for the entire duration of the contract.”
The council took the decision to bring its dry recycling service back in house earlier this year and has been collecting co-mingled recyclable from local households since 1 April. SFS’ municipal vehicle hire division, CTS, provided 5 brand new temporary recycling vehicles, to deliver the new service during the interim period prior to the contract start date.
Cllr Mark Nickerson, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council:
“Our youngest vehicles were seven years old and older vehicles were unreliable and becoming expensive to maintain. The new fleet provided by SFS will decrease our maintenance costs and increase the reliability of our services. All the vehicles are on contact hire, which proved to be the most cost and risk effective solution. As well as improving efficiency, our Refuse trucks now all have Euro 6 engines and extra protection for cyclists, reducing our emissions and making them safer for other road users.
The new fleet is the latest in a series of improvements we’ve made to bin collections this year. In the spring we reorganised the collection rounds to improve the overall efficiency of the waste and recycling collection service, with rounds redrawn to reflect new homes built around the borough since the last time rounds were reviewed nine years ago. Thanks to the team, this huge change affecting some 49,000 households, was planned and completed with the minimum of fuss and disruption to our residents.”
SFS has been delivering contract hire, fleet and workshop management solutions to the public and private sector since 1992. With a network of workshops and its own municipal vehicle hire division (CTS Hire), SFS can provide the full range of vehicle and plant solutions from short-term vehicle hire to meeting the most complex fleet requirements.
For more information about Specialist Fleet Services or CTS Municipal Vehicle Hire: tel: 01604 234601; email [email protected]; visit www.sfs.co.uk or www.ctshire.co.uk; Facebook @SpecialistFleetServices; Twitter @SpecialistFleet
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