Artegy Upgrades Manheim Auction’s Transporter Fleet

Manheim Auctions has turned to truck contract hire specialist Artegy to supply it with nine new Mercedes Atego 1828L car transporters.

Pictured with the first Mercedes Atego is (from left) Neil McCarthy, Regional Sales Manager, Artegy - Daz Johnson, National Logistics Manager, Manheim - John Cockburn, Regional Fleet Engineer, Artegy.

Already the first of the 21-tonne 6x2 trucks has been delivered to Manheim Colchester, as the world’s largest auction company renews part of its UK based delivery and collection fleet.

Each truck is capable of transporting five cars on two decks and will be equipped with a spectacle lift to upgrade the carrying capacity to six cars. A hydraulic winch enables the driver to collect non-running vehicles without any problems.

The bodywork is built by Belle Trailers based in Essex and the 6.8m Mercedes Atego day cab chassis and a lifting mid-axle has been specified to help save on tyre wear and improve fuel consumption when the truck is running empty.

Three trucks will be based at Manheim A1 Knottingley, two at Colchester and one each at Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and Wimbledon, managing just some of the 300,000 car collections and deliveries Manheim undertakes across its 18-centre Manheim auction network each year.

Artegy, which manages over 15,000 specialist commercial vehicles in the UK and France has supplied the trucks on a 100,000km per annum, five-year fully maintained contract hire agreement.

“We have extended our collection and delivery service over the past 12 months and wanted to upgrade our transport fleet to accommodate this growth across the group. Artegy has huge experience in this area which is why we chose them as a supplier, while the Atego proved it was the best vehicle option for multi-vehicle delivery work,” explained Daz Johnson, Manheim’s National Logistics Manager.

The Head of Sales and Marketing at Artegy said: "This is an exciting contract for us. Our team has been focused on ensuring we have developed a full understanding of Manheim's operation before we signed this agreement. This approach means Manheim is confident in our ability to provide a reliable contract hire service, which is vital as these nine vehicles are fundamental to the smooth operation of their business."