Top UK brewer upgrades to Mercedes-Benz fleet

ECONOMICS & LOGISTICS

Committing to safety and efficiency.

One of the UK’s top pub businesses and a leading brewer of premium cask and bottled beers has upgraded to a new all Mercedes-Benz fleet for distribution, deliveries and more.


Founded in 1890, Marston’s Beer Company is the leading brewer of cask ale in the UK and runs 1,700 pubs and six breweries nationwide. With its recent acquirement of Charles Wells Brewing Business, whose top beers include Bombardier, Courage and McEwan’s, Marston’s decided the time was right to upgrade their fleet of delivery and distribution trucks and commit to a single truck manufacturer.

“We were running a real ‘Heinz 57’ fleet,” explained Tony Cheater, Marston’s Regional Logistics Manager. “Individual depots had been purchasing their own vehicles, many of which were pre-owned and then refurbished, while we’d inherited others through acquisitions.”

So, Tony and the Marston’s team began researching truck manufacturers and truck specifications to determine the perfect replacements for their current fleet. They outlined several must-have criteria in their selection process. 



Top Criteria.

First, the new trucks would have to support the company’s strict commitment to team member health and safety, in line with Marston’s view that the company, like the English pub itself, is a family place where everyone knows, and looks out for, one another.

Thus, the new trucks would need enhanced safety features like reversing cameras, audible proximity alarms and lowered deck heights to make it easier for team members to ‘handball’ the kegs and barrels on and off the trucks safely. For drivers, the company also liked the idea of comfortable, ergonomically designed cab spaces that increased driver comfort.

With the proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London and Clean Air Zones in other cities, the trucks would also need to be energy efficient and economical. “A lot of our vehicles were getting quite old,” said Tony. “This meant that not only was it becoming more expensive to keep them on the road, but also that before long we would not be able to access these urban centres.”

Finally, the trucks would need two-pedal set-ups and increased manoeuvrability for getting in and out of distribution centres and drop-off locations. 


Committing to Mercedes-Benz.

Once they compiled this list, Mercedes-Benz was the only manufacturer who could supply exactly what the top brewer needed. Marston’s first placed an order for 30 fully air suspended trucks, including twenty-one 26-tonne Antos, six 15-tonne Atego 1521s and a trio of 12-tonne Atego 1218s,  later outfitted with aftermarket curtainside bodywork. Marston’s then placed a follow-up order for an additional 54 trucks.

Think local.

Even with headquarters in Wolverhampton and owning pubs and breweries throughout the nation, Marston’s prides itself on its ‘Think Local’ strategy. Because of this philosophy, each truck has custom artwork showcasing the breweries and brands they are assigned to serve.

At the end of the day, says Logistics Director David Nijs, “Our job is to provide Marston’s customers with great beer – trucks are tools we rely on to do so.”

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