News
Scottish fuel distributor expands again
Specialising in heating oil, red diesel, derv and licensed AdBlue and delivering to both domestic and commercial customers, the fleet additions are part of Oilfast’s commitment to expand and improve.
The company has a growing base in Wales with 8 depots across Scotland and Wales and the five new trucks will operate out of the company’s Crieff, Grangemouth & Insch Depots in Scotland.
William Nicol, transport & operations director commented: “We deliver excellent service to the UK, no matter the circumstance – even during COVID-19. That is why we are reinvesting back into the areas of the business that matter most to our customers.”
The Tanker build
The tankers are built by Cobo on a Volvo FE chassis with discharge and metering equipment from Emco Wheaton. After shipping the vehicle chassis to Emco Wheaton’s workshop in Margate, the specialist team attach the new metering equipment to the chassis for transport to Spain. On arrival in Spain, the team at Cobo install the chassis and tanker together – a process that can take serval weeks to perfect before returning to the UK.
Once the build is complete the tanker is returned to the UK for testing to ensure it is safe for transporting fuel. After passing this test it is then sent to be branded in the iconic Oilfast logo & saltire before being delivered to the Motherwell head office.
Key features
Each tanker has a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 26 tonnes giving a maximum carrying capacity of 17,500 litres and are equipped with 5 compartments to allow for a wide range of products and services.
All vehicles come with 3 key safety features:
Overfill protection
Electrical isolation
Earthing & vapour recovery
What comes next?
Oilfast is quick to acknowledge the part their customers have played in putting them in the position to expand the fleet as William explains: “As we grow as a company, so does our customer base and we want to ensure that we do right by all our customers. As such, the technology may change but our approach to customer service will not. We do not have call centres; we will always have community focused depots that offer a localised approach to providing our services. As such, we are still committed to providing the best service possible.”
And, looking ahead, William concludes: “Our vehicle investment for 2021 is now over £1million. With a further 8 tankers coming in 2022 this takes our total investment in vehicles to over £2.5million in two years. As we grow, it’s important we reinvest back into the areas that got us here in the first place. We are extremely excited to see the next generation of Oilfast tankers out on the road and hopefully, our customers are too.”