Bristol, UK: Charles Saunders Food Service has switched from 7.5 tonne to 11 tonne delivery vehicles with ten new Isuzu Forward 11 tonne rigids in its 35-vehicle refrigerated fleet.

“We have seen a year-on-year increase in our customer base and an evolving product range,” says Colin Bardsley, operations manager, Charles Saunders Food Service.

“The move up in weight allows us to carry more goods on each vehicle and also offer our customers a truly ‘one-stop shop’ service. With the new Isuzus, we can supply customers with a selection of frozen, chilled, and ambient products all delivered on one vehicle, whereas previously we had to use multiple vehicles for the delivery of food and non-food products.”

The Isuzu Forward F110.210 4 x2 rigids have the same specification: Easyshift automatic transmission, Solomon multi-compartment refrigerated bodies with front side loading door access, Carrier Supra MT fridges, and rear underslung Dhollandia tail lifts.

The Isuzus also have automatic cab lighting and a number of road safety features including an eight side – angle camera surround system with an audible beep for enhanced awareness of cyclists and a lane detection system to increase driver safety on motorways.

“The new Isuzu 11 tonne rigids have a payload of over 4.2 tonnes, which is ideal for our multi-drop business as it allows us to deal with both large and small customers using the same delivery vehicle,” Bardsley says.

Eight of the new Isuzu 11 tonne rigids have now gone into service with Charles Saunders Food Service operating in the south-west of England and the final two Isuzus are scheduled to go into service in May. All ten Isuzus were supplied by Isuzu Truck dealer AK Commercials with a seven-year R&M contract with Isuzu Truck.

“We have been dealing with AK Commercials on and off for over 20 years and they are ideally located close to us and give us superb service at all times,” Bardsley says. “We have been extremely pleased with the decision to go down the Isuzu path for these new vehicles. Apart from the perfect balance of payload and power, the slim design of the Isuzu 11 tonne cab is particularly useful as we operate in rural environments where vehicle access can be quite restrictive. The comfort of the Isuzu’s cab is really appreciated by our drivers as too is the efficient performance of the Euro VI engine.”