Asda boosts delivery capacity by 30%

Supermarket Asda has revamped its home-delivery van fleet, increasing its carrying capacity by 30% and boosting fuel consumption as well.

It will begin to take delivery of the 200 new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and VW Crafter vans, fitted with bodies designed in conjunction with Paneltex and Solomon Commercials, from next month.

Asda has moved to a side-opening design which, despite reducing the overall width and height of the body, has managed to improve capacity by nearly one-third: instead of the current 80 tote trays, it can now get 105 on board.

John Rogerson, Asda fleet contracts manager, says it has been running a prototype version of the van from its Grimsby store, which has shown a 14% improvement in fuel consumption and a 22% reduction in manual effort for delivery drivers through not having to walk up the rear steps and open multiple doors to get to the product.

He says: "This is all about driving efficiency and getting better utilisation from our fleet. There is a lot of empty space [within the existing design] that can be taken up. It is now being used to its full extent - before we were carrying fresh air."

The new design has also lowered the weight of the unladen van, again producing a productivity gain.

Other improvements include a reversing sensor fitted in the rear bumper and Isotrak telematics as standard.

Rogerson is full of praise for the durability of the Sprinter and Crafter vehicles: "They work within the harshest environment in transport and with these we have got the right tools for the job."

150 Schmitz reefers on order

The Leeds-based supermarket has also ordered 150 new Schmitz reefer trailers, with Carrier Vector fridges, for delivery in November and December this year.

There had been speculation that Asda would opt for ecoFridge nitrogen chiller units, having already trialled seven of them within its operation. However, Rogerson explains: "We are still working with ecoFridge to develop the product further. It is not the right time to roll it out across our network now, but we are spending an immense amount of time to develop a version two of it."

He believes it will be 12 months before this is ready.