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VMS Fleet Management is helping long term partners Iceland Foods to expand their delivery fleet this winter by supplying 250 newly converted Mercedes Sprinter 314 refrigerated vehicles in time to meet the expected high demand for Christmas and beyond.
Now, more than ever, customers and vulnerable people are relying on key suppliers like Iceland to ensure their essentials and food items are being delivered to their door. In a plan to meet increased delivery expectations through the 2020 Christmas period and going forward, Iceland looked to long term supply partner VMS Fleet Management to add 250 new vehicles to its fleet of home delivery vehicles.
VMS Fleet Management secured 250 new Mercedes Sprinter 314 Chassis Cab with Box Body Vans to meet Iceland’s requirements. The Sprinter 314s are larger than the current vehicle type with the style of a standard ‘Supermarket’ specification side loading body. With the help of partners Paneltex Ltd and Solomons Commercials, the vans have been converted to include a triple compartment rear box which, with the Alex Original Twin Evap fridge unit supplied and installed within the vehicles by VMS Refrigeration Ltd, offers ambient, chill and frozen settings for different food and delivery requirements.
These new vehicles boast an increased capacity for customer orders, so Iceland can continue to supply their customers quickly and effectively now and into the future.
VMS Fleet Management Ltd and Iceland Food has an unparalleled partnership in the food home delivery industry, with VMS supplying approximately 4,000 vehicles and managing Iceland’s fleet for over 15 years. Alongside supplying vehicles and fleet management, VMS also provides support services including comprehensive accident management, complete fleet maintenance solutions, refrigeration maintenance and compliance, full regulatory checks as well as access to the VMS 24/7 call centre to Iceland.
Martin James, Managing Director of VMS Fleet Management, says:
“We’ve worked with Iceland since 2002 to form an incredible partnership, and we’re delighted to be part of the story of their growth. Iceland was the first major food chain outlet to offer home delivery to in-store shoppers, and we’ve been there for the major part of their journey helping those customers who needed that door to door service – which has inevitably grown into a much larger, more complex delivery programme than anyone imagined 25 years ago!
“Operationally, we’ve worked closely with Iceland over the years to ensure they are in a strong position to offer the kind of service their customers need and have come to expect. We’re very proud to be able to help them with the supply and management of these new vehicles so that Iceland can support and fulfil the orders made by those customers all over the country who are staying safe at home.”
Kevin Tully, Head of Delivered Sales at Iceland Foods, says:
“We’ve continued to work closely with VMS Fleet Management to support the significant increase in demand for online deliveries, seeing our volume increase by over 400% against last year’s numbers.
“The support we have received from VMS has enabled us to continue to service communities across the country and offer guaranteed deliveries to the most vulnerable. I am extremely excited about the new vehicles which give further increases to our overall capacity and future-proof our fleet for years to come.”
The new Sprinter 314s are currently being supplied to Iceland sites and will be rolled out into the fleet as soon as possible and will be active on roads across the UK pre and post-Christmas.
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