A LEADING fresh produce supplier has gained more space in their new fleet of chiller vans.

Oliver Kay Produce, based on Britannia Way in Bolton, operates more than 90 vehicles, delivering fresh fruit and vegetables to customers across the country each day.

The company has recently purchased nine new vehicles, which each have 20 per cent more space than the previous design.

Nigel Mason, group transport manager for the firm, said: “We needed to replace nine of our vehicles and felt it was a good time to assess our carbon footprint and seek ways to be more efficient on fuel and energy.

“CoolKit are recognised experts within the industry in the provision of lightweight transport solutions, so I got in touch and talked through my needs with their technical department.

“They understood my need to improve capacity while reducing costs and carbon footprint and returned with a specification fit for purpose.”

CoolKit, based in Burnley, are an industry leader in making refrigerated vehicles, and were able to design a Volkswagen Crafter chiller box van with a medium wheelbase chassis, increasing the capacity to 1,142kg.

The new design saw the fridge placed under the chassis, in order to improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle, and cab deflectors and side wings were to be added in order to maximise fuel efficiency and airflow.

Nigel added: “I was really blown away by the level of detail which went into specifying our vehicles and the payload they offered was the best I’ve ever known.

“Each new van has 20% additional capacity, which stops us from having to swap items from van to van to meet weight restrictions and better still, it means we can condense delivery runs, which also helps cut costs."

CoolKit was not required to complete the livery or telematics on the new vans, but went above and beyond to contact the third-party teams responsible to arrange the work as part of their build process, with Nigel saying: “It was huge help taking it out of our hands.”