Partner Article

Owen Pugh takes delivery of £3.4m truck order

THE OWEN Pugh Group has taken delivery of the first of 34 new vehicles, following a £3.4million deal with Mercedes Benz dealership Bell Truck and Van.

The 32 ton Mercedes Benz Arocs 3240K 8 X 4 truck has arrived at Owen Pugh’s head office in Dudley, North Tyneside and the full service civil engineering contractor will now see around three vehicles arriving each week for the next 12 weeks. The order, Owen Pugh’s largest ever single investment in fleet, comprises 28 tippers and six converted to hiab, grab and hook loaders.

The new trucks, which meet stringent Euro VI emissions regulations, will be utilised across Owen Pugh’s five trading arms, replacing older vehicles and complimenting the company’s 75 strong HGV fleet. They will also be available for external customers to hire.

Paul Cockburn, general manager of Owen Pugh & Co Ltd which is responsible for the company’s plant hire and haulage businesses, says the he is pleased to take possession of the first of the tranche of new trucks. He said: “The deal has been in the offing for a number of months so we’re delighted to see the first of the 34 new vehicles arrive at our head office. The order represents our largest ever investment in fleet which will allow us to operate more efficiently, cutting monthly fuel costs by up to four percent and significantly reducing CO2 emissions. They’ll be heading straight out on the road to support work currently underway on major schemes across the region.”

The trucks will be put to work on projects including the Morpeth Northern Bypass, where Owen Pugh is currently undertaking earthworks on behalf of Carillion and is transporting construction aggregates on behalf of Lafarge Tarmac. They will also be used at Dalton Park where Owen Pugh is carrying out excavation and re-composting work for the site’s extension.

Owen Pugh agreed the deal with Longbenton headquartered Bell Truck and Van who are supplying the vehicles in a five year deal. The third generation family business, which has six depots across the North, will maintain the vehicles on an ongoing basis utilising the vehicles’ state-of-the-art diagnostic capability.

Mr Cockburn added: “We were keen to work with another North East business on this deal and given Bell Truck and Van’s track record in providing unrivalled customer service and aftersales support, they were the obvious choice. We’re looking forward to seeing the rest of the fleet arrive on site over the coming weeks and look forward to developing this partnership in the future.”

Trevor Simmons, group managing director for Bell Truck and Van, said: “We were delighted that the Owen Pugh Group selected us as their partner of choice to deliver this substantial order. We were pleased to deliver the first truck to site and look forward to seeing the fleet in action throughout the North East in the months and years to come.”

The Owen Pugh Group comprises five trading companies operating in the civil engineering industry, undertaking earthmoving and demolition, drainage and groundworks, plant-hire and haulage, quarrying, inert waste and drain cleaning, and CCTV surveys. The group is headquartered in Dudley near Cramlington, with other bases in Blaydon, Stockton-on-Tees and Bassington Lane in Cramlington, as well as Marsden Quarry. The Owen Pugh Group employs over 420 people across its sites.

To find out more about the Owen Pugh Group visit www.owenpugh.com.

For further information about Bell Truck and Van visit www.belltruckandvan.co.uk

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