Scania Truck Rental, the Scania (Great Britain) Limited-owned nationwide short- and long-term truck rental service, celebrates its Silver Jubilee this year. Scania began rental operations in the UK in March 1996 with a 200-strong fleet of 3-series trucks and four dealer network-base rental offices. Since then, the fleet has grown almost nine-fold to its current complement of 1,780 mostly New Generation Scania units and the number of rental points has more than doubled to nine. The sustained growth and success of Scania Truck Rental has led to the model being adopted by numerous other Scania markets worldwide.
“Scania Truck Rental has developed immensely over the years and today forms a key part of our business offer,” comments Martin Hay, Managing Director of Scania (Great Britain) Limited. “It has also provided the first taste of the Scania product to numerous operators, small and large. Many of these customers have gone on to become loyal and long-standing Scania customers. Indeed, we have seen numerous fledgling businesses grow their companies using the flexibility Scania Truck Rental provides.
Today, operator demand consistently runs at a very high level with fleet utilisation averaging above 90 percent, and all indications are that the operation will continue going from strength-to-strength – my congratulations go to our rental team for their many achievements over the years.”
“Operator feedback tells us our customers look to us for a combination of high quality products backed by a flexible, personal 24/7 service,” adds John Collier, Head of Truck Rental. “In short, there’s nothing we won’t do; from one day spot hire to rental contracts of up to 35 months with vehicles tailored to the application and supplied fully liveried, we place the needs of our customers first every time. Another attraction is that all our vehicles are maintained within the Scania network, meaning operators can rely on excellent reliability from the vehicles they rent from us.”
The Scania Truck Rental fleet comprises a broad mix of models.
“Central to our offer is the most popular Scania UK fleet truck, the 44-tonne R 450 6×2/2 mid-lift tractor unit, which we can provide with either a normal height or Highline cab,” says John Collier. “In addition we offer many variants for both 4×2 and six-wheel tractor units, including ADR vehicles and units equipped with power take-offs to accommodate bulk trailers, blowers and tipping gear. Engine outputs across the Scania range are also available, up to and including the new 770 horsepower V8. Our rigid fleet also provides numerous model options, including 18-tonne and 26-tonne boxes and curtainsiders, 26-tonne dual-compartment refrigerated trucks and 32-tonne 8×4 tippers and hookloaders.
In order to optimise the geographical spread of rental locations, four of the nine Scania Truck Rental sites are situated within Scania’s wholly-owned retail network at Bellshill, Normanton, Purfleet, Swindon and Bristol. The remaining four locations are housed in Warrington, Larne, West Bromwich and Wellingborough on the premises of independently-owned Scania dealerships.
