FreshLinc, the leading service provider to retailers, food manufacturers growers and importers is  adding a further 120 temperature-controlled Krone trailers to its fleet, one of which is adorned in a special livery paying tribute to the transport industry and NHS and designed by Olivia Chatterley, the 6 year-old daughter of a FreshLinc supplier.

Combining hand-painted images of a truck, bus and the now familiar NHS rainbow symbol, the colourful design thanks ‘Our transport workers’ and the NHS ‘For helping us through Covid-19’.

FreshLinc’s Fleet Engineer, Andy Marchant picks up the story: “I was kindly sent the picture by Olivia – which was done as part of a school project – and together with our Operations Director Lee Juniper, thought it was so good and such a fitting tribute to the NHS and key workers that we would have it transformed into a large vinyl wrap and put onto one of our trailers, which will be delivering produce around the country.”

400 vehicles and 1,000 trailers are working throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe on a 7-day cycle as part of FreshLinc’s total supply chain management of temperature sensitive food products and as Andy points out, one trailer in particular will certainly make an impact: 

“Before it joins the rest of our fleet, the trailer will be on a special schedule, visiting care homes and hospitals around the UK on Thursday evenings, as part of the national “Clap”, to show our appreciation to all the kind and hard-working doctors and nurses on the front line.”

Andy goes on to explain that the latest consignment of trailers from Krone reflects FreshLinc’s continued growth and the increasing workload from UK and European customers who are looking for a comprehensive and more reliable level of service – particularly in light of the unprecedented challenges being presented by Coronavirus 

“During these unusual times” says Andy Marchant, “the resolve and support of every FreshLinc employee, key-worker and supplier partner is relied on to maintain an uninterrupted flow of food items to retailers throughout the country. In keeping with this, our focus is on the safety and well-being of our staff while keeping up with the daily demands of our customers and accordingly, we have introduced various safety measures and additional cleaning regimes.” 

With over 6,000 mixed loads per week on FreshLinc’s diverse chilled, ambient, container, crane, bulk transport and horticultural operations, the Krone Cool Liner trailers will play their part in delivering single and multi- temperature consignments and, in total, make up 200 Krone trailers in the FreshLinc fleet. 

“The equipment supplied by Krone is specified to match the wide-ranging demands of our operation” adds Andy. “Their technical and general support is first class and given the high quality of the trailers, we can expect a good residual value in later years. For one of the trailers, I’m sure” he speculates, “this may prove to be higher than the rest!”

From its head office location in Spalding, Lincolnshire and 5 key hubs situated in West Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire, Kent and the Netherlands, FreshLinc provides numerous value-added services including order management, storage, unit/case picking, labelling, cross-docking and onward distribution.

Krone Trailers

About the Author: John Loughran