HiB is an industry-leading bathroom furniture manufacturer based in London and Tamworth, who have nearly 30 years of experience under their belt. They are a major supplier to both nationwide and overseas bathroom retailers and customers.

HiB’s hard-earned reputation in the industry has been built upon outstanding innovation and peerless quality, but above all else, their commitment to revolutionising design and ‘making bathrooms beautiful’.

Find out more about HiB here: www.hib.co.uk 

Challenge

Bathrooms are getting bigger, therefore the transportation that carries bathroom furniture needs to keep up with the industry. Before HiB and Alltruck plc started their partnership two years ago, HiB was running a fleet of 3.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinters.

HiB is a growing business, and as they are continually getting busier and busier, they need their transportation to grow and expand with them.

Therefore, in 2018, HiB was in the market for a new vehicle, and a provider with whom they could build a strong relationship with to help guide them through the process of moving from vans to trucks.

HiB is a company who are conscious of their carbon footprint, and they have strict targets to help lower this over the next few years. HiB’s Fleet Manager, Craig Turner, aims to achieve a target of 15% of the company’s car fleet being electric by mid-2021. Thus, keeping their truck as fuel economical and low emission as possible was a high priority.

The payload was another very important matter to HiB when they were considering adding a truck to their fleet.

HiB cares about their people, being in one of the top 75 employers to work for in the Midlands. They wanted to make sure that their drivers weren’t an exception to that, therefore their comfort was a necessity.

Solution

We wished to help make HiB’s delivery process more efficient, so that they could not only save on time, but save money, too. We also wanted to make sure that HiB and their drivers were 100-percent confident with our solution and service.

Together, this is what we came up with:

• • • A rental vehicle to try out for 3 months prior to HiB signing their contract hire deal.
    • One brand new 7.5t DAF LF 180 in 2018, and another in September 2020.
    • Alltruck plc helped guide HiB through the process of obtaining their operator’s license, and have since been there to help them with compliance.
    • A custom-made 20ft box body designed and produced at our Loughborough Bodyshop.
    • Attractive livery, designed by HiB and our livery partner, AR Signs.
    • Spacious day cab with an air-suspended driver’s seat, armrest, soft-grip steering wheel, automatic gearbox, air-con and Adaptive Cruise Control – all with driver comfort in mind.
    • For safety, the truck has Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collison Warning and an Advanced Electronic Braking System.
    • Maintenance and servicing of HiB’s new trucks will be managed by Alltruck plc.
    • A replacement vehicle will be provided during MOTs and breakdowns.
    • Like all our clients, both experienced and new to Contract Hire, HiB has their own Account Manager, Business Development Manager, and our friendly Fleet and Workshop Teams to help guide them through the maintenance of the vehicle and answer any queries.

Results

HiB found it beneficial that they could trial one of our rental trucks, which would be very similar to the truck we would be providing on contract hire, before sealing the deal. It meant that they could see whether investing in their own truck would be the right decision for them.

HiB soon realised that by having a truck, it meant fewer runs, happier drivers, and keeping their truck compliant wasn’t as difficult as they expected with the support of Alltruck plc.

As HiB has been getting bigger contracts with retailers over the last few years, the lorries came in at the right time. Although their vans are good at getting their smaller deliveries out to the end-user, their trucks take their goods all the way from their warehouse in Tamworth to retailers in Northern Ireland, the South Coast of England, Edinburgh in Scotland, all around the Midlands, to London and everywhere in between!

With their own contract hire trucks, we were able to drop the additional extras that HiB didn’t require (such as the tail lift), to maximise the payload. This means that they can now carry approximately 2.8 tonnes of goods on the back of their trucks – more than double that of their vans.

Even though this new vehicle is slightly bigger and heavier than their current vans, the DAF LF has optimized powertrains, which means it provides industry-leading fuel economy. Therefore, HiB will not only keep their carbon footprint low, as they hoped for, but they will be keeping fuel costs low as well. All whilst saving lots of time and money due to the large 20ft custom-built body that houses their goods on the road.

Because we provide a replacement vehicle for when the vehicles are in for their MOTs, and if their trucks break down for any reason, it offers HiB the peace of mind that they won’t be stuck without a vehicle and can meet customer deliveries as planned.

Craig Turner from HiB enthused about the relationship he has with Alltruck plc, stating:

“Everyone is helpful and friendly. We have a really good partnership. It’s brilliant the way everything runs so smoothly, there’s never an issue sorting out inspections, MOT’s or servicing.”

Alltruck plc is here to deal with all the truck’s maintenance (including MOT’s, inspections, and servicing), and help guide HiB in any way we can. Therefore, HiB can focus on their commitment to making bathrooms beautiful.