Scottish high street retailer Semichem has refleeted with Ryder.
Semichem, a modern retailer specialising in health and beauty products, has been a well-known brand in the towns and cities of Scotland and Northern Ireland for more than 30 years.
It has taken on two DAF CF410 6×2 tractors with Space Cabs and AS Tronic gearboxes, and four DAF CF250 18-tonners with 28 foot-long Bevan box bodies and Ratcliff 1.5t column tail lifts.
The new 18-tonners replace similar vehicles that Semichem had owned for seven years; with these vehicles replaced, not only is Semichem’s powered fleet 100% leased but also provided and maintained entirely by Ryder.
Stuart Nicolson, depot manager at Semichem, explains: “We’re owned by the Scottish Midland Co-operative, and thus the environmental impact of the fleet is important: so we’re happy to be moving to Euro-6.”
With around 100 shops and with the majority situated in Scotland, and deliveries taking place day and night, seven days a week from a DC in Livingston, vehicle uptime is important to Semichem.
Nicolson adds: “Any small hiccup has a huge knock-on impact in that chain, so Ryder’s back-up is important to us. We’ve been with Ryder for six years, and we’re continuing because we’re more comfortable working with Ryder and their maintenance set-up than with other suppliers. Ryder is on the ball, we’ve seen what their team can do and how they react in different situations.”
John Murray, Ryder sales and marketing director, says: “At Ryder, we know how crucial vehicle uptime is to operators. Semichem’s experience with us highlights how important trust is: Semichem can concentrate on serving its customers, comfortable in the knowledge that Ryder will ensure its vehicles are on the road when they need to be.”
