It is said that no transport manager has ever been fired for buying a DAF. Whether or not there’s any truth in this we don’t know, but it certainly seems to make sense. After all, no matter whether it’s an LF, CF or XF, you know exactly where you are with a DAF – in a drivable, dependable and hugely reliable lorry. Put simply, a DAF truck is a safe pair of hands.

Available from 7.5 tonnes to 19 tonnes, the lightweight LF is an excellent little workhorse. It is consistently the market leader in the 7.5 tonne sector.

The CF is the mainstay of many a UK fleet, with operators appreciating its low operating costs. DAF considerably boosted the truck’s driver appeal in 2017 when it launched an updated version. The highlight of the revamp was the introduction of ZF’s superb TraXon two-pedal transmission.

The larger XF was revised at the same time, and received a host of new features. Don’t let the elderly cab structure put you off, as under the skin this is a very modern machine. It’s also one of the most spacious trucks on the market.

With most right-hand drive DAFs being assembled in Leyland, this is the closest we have to a major domestic truck manufacturer. So it’s only fitting that DAFs are consistently the best-selling trucks in the UK.

If you haven’t driven or operated an IVECO for a number of years, now is the time to rediscover the brand. From the 3.5 tonne Daily van, through to the 44 tonne 6×2 Stralis tractor, its extensive range of commercial vehicles really is worth consideration. And that’s not just our view either, as the Daily, Eurocargo and Stralis have each won highly coveted International Van and Truck of the Year awards, adding to an already bulging Turin trophy cabinet.

The Stralis is a great truck to drive, thanks to its hugely respected Cursor engines. IVECO was one of the earliest adopters of two-pedal automated manual transmissions, and the Hi-Tronix 12-speed gearbox that’s fitted to its XP range, is unquestionably one of the best on the market.

IVECO’s decision to tackle Euro-6 with SCR-only, has proved to be a good one, not only in terms of decent fuel efficiency, but because its trucks do not require diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration. This has certainly boosted the appeal of its Eurocargo rigid, which is a major player in the UK’s immortal 7.5-tonne sector.

While not turning its back on diesel, IVECO is investing heavily in natural gas-powered trucks, and in 2017 launched a NP (natural power) Stralis in the UK. Proving that this truck is capable of national distribution, it famously drove the 850 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End on one tank of LNG.

If there was a prize for the most improved truck, it would surely go to the MAN TGX. It’s no secret that the German truck manufacturer had some problems with its D20 and D26 EGR engines at Euro 4 and Euro 5, but these are well and truly behind it now. And what has emerged on the other side is a hugely reliable and competent truck.

MAN is credited with inventing the diesel engine, and it’s still at the top of its game today. Its engines are low revving, fuel efficient, and pull incredibly well. Throw the TipMatic (ZF TraXon) transmission into the equation, and you have one of the most drivable trucks on the market. Like Scania, MAN is part of the Volkswagen Group, and over the coming years you can expect to see some component sharing. MAN’s 4×2 tractors are already available with Scania’s excellent Opticruise transmission.

We are big fans of the entire MAN truck range. The TGS is a great all-rounder, while the TGM and TGL cover the distribution sector. Latest edition to the line-up is the TGE van, which rolls off the same assembly line as the VW Crafter.

When it was launched in 2012 the latest Mercedes-Benz Actros made headlines, not only thanks to its attractive styling, but because of its ability to sip diesel. Fuel efficiency has continued to improve, and Mercedes claims that the latest Actros, with its second generation Euro 6 engine, is some 7% more efficient than the original Euro 5 version. Its impressive fuel economy was confirmed by Commercial Motor magazine, when in 2017 an Actros running at 44 tonnes managed 8.65mpg around its test route, setting a new record for a Euro 6 truck in the process.

With numerous cab heights and widths, there is a bewildering number of Actros variants available. Meanwhile the distribution sector is well catered for by the Atego rigid range (6.5 to 16 tonnes) and Antos rigids and tractor units (18 tonnes upwards).

With its striking appearance, it’s easy to understand why the Arocs construction range is proving popular, in particular as an 8×4 tipper. But for those operators who prefer a lower cab, Mercedes offers the Econic. This low-entry truck, which until recently was used solely by the refuse industry for kerbside collection, is becoming increasingly popular in the construction sector, particularly in London. The Unimog utility trucks, and Sprinter, Vito and Citan vans, complete what is surely the most extensive range of commercial vehicles offered by a single manufacturer.

In 2013 Renault revamped its entire range, and with the all-new trucks came an enhanced reputation.

The star of the new range is undoubtedly the Range T tractor unit, which was awarded the International Truck of the Year accolade at its launch. When it first appeared it’s fair to say that this truck’s distinctive external styling created quite a stir, but it didn’t put buyers off, and today it’s a common sight on UK roads. While drivers appreciate that it’s a vastly better lorry to drive and live in than the Premium it replaced, operators are attracted to its low total cost of ownership. It does after all share a driveline with its more expensive Volvo siblings. In 2017, after a four year wait, Renault finally announced that it would be offering a right-hand drive version of its flat-floored T High.

Renault’s Range C has been a sales success, winning it plenty of friends in the construction sector. Meanwhile the Range K, with its heavy duty metal bumper, excels when the going gets really tough.

The 10 to 26 tonne distribution sector is catered for by the Range D trucks. Renault has no plans to offer a 7.5 tonner.

It is said that there are two types of lorry driver on Britain’s roads, those that drive a Scania, and those that wish that they drove a Scania! An exaggeration maybe, but there’s certainly no denying that the Swedish truck maker has an enviable reputation amongst HGV drivers, which has been enhanced with the arrival of its highly acclaimed Next Generation R and S series trucks.

It’s not just the men and women behind the steering wheel that wax lyrical about Scania either, as the marque is held in equally high regard by many UK hauliers. Its tractor units are popular across the full spectrum of operators, including owner drivers, small family run firms, supermarket chains and of course high profile hauliers like Eddie Stobart. Although not the cheapest trucks on the market, these customers appreciate Scania’s low total cost of ownership, its reputation for reliability, and its class-leading residual values. What’s more, operators who specify a V8 over a 6-cylinder engine, soon discover that they no longer have a driver recruitment problem.

Already a dominant force in 6×2 tractors, and a frequent market leader in the 8×4 construction sector, now Scania is making a conscious effort to boost the popularity of its 18 to 26 tonne P series urban and regional distribution rigids.

Volvo has long been synonymous with safety, and the current range of trucks has taken its responsible approach to a whole new level. Its lorries are packed full of safety aids, some well hidden, and others well and truly in the limelight. Who could forget Jean-Claude van Damme demonstrating Volvo’s Dynamic Steering on the Epic Split viral video?

It’s not just safety features where Volvo leads the way either, as it’s definitely at the forefront when it comes to all sorts of innovation. The FH’s options list is packed full of exciting features – like I-See, I-Roll and even a Dual Clutch transmission – all designed to save fuel and enhance the driving experience.

The FH and FH16 might turn heads at truck stops, but let’s not forget the FM, which remains a firm favourite with UK fleets. Like its larger sibling, it comes with Volvo’s I-Shift gearbox, which is considered by many to be class-leading.

Like rival Scania, Volvo doesn’t offer anything in the 7.5 tonne sector, but its FL and FE rigids cover all GVWs from 10 to 26 tonnes.

In recent years Volvo has won plenty of friends in the UK construction sector with the heavy-duty FMX 8-wheeler.

There’s a common held belief that the UK doesn’t build anything these days, but a visit to the privately-owned Cartwright Group’s 38-acre site in Altrincham soon dispels that myth.

The bodybuilder, which is one of the most respected players in a thriving British trailer making industry, is currently reaping the benefits of a major expansion programme, having spent £1.8m on a new facility to build temperature controlled trailers and rigid bodies. Key parts of the new plant include state-of-the-art vacuum presses and gluing machines.

Cartwright has decades of experience in bodybuilding, starting off in 1952 with wooden framed rigid bodies before adding trailer manufacturing to its repertoire in the late 1970s. Today, its trailer portfolio covers most types from skeletal container trailers to double-deck and multi-deck curtainsiders, with the temperature controlled market a key target area. Although having a full range of standard models, Cartwright is just as happy to build custom designs for any application. It also has a thriving conversion department, where it produces vehicles as diverse as ambulances and mobile welfare units.

The company’s slogan “Better. Built in Britain” is reinforced with a distinctive Union flag on its logo.

With more than half a century and tens of thousands of trailers behind it, family-owned Dennison Trailers is certainly one of the UK’s largest players.

The company, which has factories in Naas, Ireland, and Lancaster, England, is best known for its skeletal trailers. It commands a 50% market share in the UK, and it’s safe to say that without Dennison Trailers, our ports would very quickly grind to a halt.

Its notoriously robust fixed skeletal trailers, which have an impressive 4,000kg unladen weight, come with a choice of either crank-handled or screw-type twist locks. Its sliding skellies, which are suitable for a variety of container sizes, feature a push-pull valve for air-operated locking pins. Customers can specify a self-tracking rear axle from the options list.

Other semi-trailers in its huge product portfolio are curtainsiders, platforms, tippers and drawbars. It also manufactures a range of superbly engineered extendable straight-frame and drop-frame trailers, otherwise known as trombones. These extend to 21.2m and 19.7m respectively. As well as having a significant market share in the UK and Ireland, it also has a strong export market.

Dennison has a reputation for innovation, and a good example of this is the tractor unit it produced in the late 1970s. During its four-year production run 250 of them found buyers.

Don-Bur’s roots lie in a management buyout of a bodybuilder in 1981 by founder Donald Burton. From a modest start, the company now employs 500 workers to build 1,500 units a year on an 18-acre site.

Quite possibly the most progressive UK trailer manufacturer, Don-Bur is a hotbed of innovation. Its recent advances range from the safety benefits achieved by the newly patented LowGlide sliding ground coupling system, which allows a driver to fully complete the trailer coupling safely without having to access the catwalk, to the futuristic virtual reality system that allows visualisation of a trailer from any location. Its most unlikely project, still in a lengthy development process, involves an array of plasma-emitting lights around a trailer’s rear aperture which have a positive effect on its airflow. Aerodynamics are a major preoccupation for the Stoke-on-Trent manufacturer, most notably with its patented Teardrop trailer, the flagship of a comprehensive product range, which in 2006 set the standard that others strive to match.

In addition to regular height curtainsiders and box vans, Don-Bur has had a lot of success with its double-deckers, which are offered with fixed or moving decks. The latter can be specified with either a cost-effective mechanical deck, or a hydraulically powered one.

Family owned Gray & Adams has an enviable reputation for building quality temperature-controlled trailers and rigids. Its customer base is rich and varied, and includes major supermarkets, high-profile fleets, and owner-drivers. While its customers have a broad geographical spread, Gray & Adams is particularly dominant in its domestic Scottish market, and it’s unusual to see a lorry load of shellfish heading south of the border in anything other than a Gray & Adams trailer.

In addition to reefers, the Fraserburgh-based manufacturer produces a full range of multi-temperature vehicles. These feature dividing lanes and insulated bulkheads, splitting the interior laterally or longitudinally, allowing ambient and chilled products to be carried at the same time. It also produces a number of specialist trailers, for moving goods such as live chicks, hanging meat and pharmaceuticals.

Customers looking to maximise their load-carrying potential may want to consider its range of double-deckers, which provide 60% additional floor space. Meanwhile the company claims that its Aerodynamic range can slash fuel costs by as much as 10%.

The company prides itself on its ability to build trailers and bodies to customers’ specific requirements.

King is the UK’s largest manufacturer of trailers for abnormal loads up to 150tonnes. Whether it’s construction equipment and plant or if you need to move any kind of non-standard load then King can provide the solution.

Our project business is constantly supplying bespoke solutions across all industries, including defence, aerospace, energy and nuclear.

King offer a comprehensive aftersales service for a wide range of commercial vehicles. Providing specialist service and parts, and operating a fleet of dedicated service vehicles offering local and nationwide coverage, we can assist you with an array of services including trailer refurbishment, fault diagnosis, accident repairs and routine maintenance.

Nooteboom Trailers B.V. is a leading international company offering their customers innovative and complete solutions for abnormal transport. Nooteboom designs and builds trailers of the highest quality with a payload of 20 to 200 tonnes. The product range includes semi-trailers, low-loaders, drawbar trailer and semi low-loaders. Every Nooteboom trailer has an excellent price-quality ratio thanks to the low total cost of ownership. Quality, reliability and the greatest ease of use are also paramount.

By continually investing in the best solutions for their customers Nooteboom is characterised by pioneering innovations in special transport. Because it is deeply ingrained in the DNA of Nooteboom to continually surprise their customers with ground-breaking innovations. As they did in 2015 with the introduction of the new MANOOVR semi low-loader, for which Nooteboom received several prestigious awards such as the ESTA Award and the RAI SV Innovation Award.

Big on both sides of the Irish Sea, SDC is now owned by CIMC Vehicles, the global trailer manufacturer with headquarters in China. The attraction to an overseas buyer was clear, as not only is this one of Europe’s largest trailer makers, but its customer base includes many household names. Not least among these is Eddie Stobart, which bought around 900 SDC trailers in 2016 alone.

Its product line-up is totally made up of trailers and includes box vans and curtainsiders, skeletals and tippers, and chassis for custom bodywork.

In 2016, SDC became the first UK manufacturer to offer a kinetic energy recovery system, which harvests regenerated energy to be used later to provide assistance with an artic combination’s tractive effort. Another novel innovation is the Combi-Liner, whose flexible structure can be adapted for use as a curtainsider, box trailer, container carrier or flatbed trailer. Meanwhile, the Aeroliner has a tapered rear profile to give significant aerodynamic benefits while retaining the capacity for 26 pallets.

SDC has factories in Toomebridge, Northern Ireland, and Mansfield, England.

It’s not many companies that can claim to have invented something that changed the world, but Carrier Transicold can. That’s because back in 1902 the company’s founder Willis Carrier invented air conditioning. How cool is that?

Today it’s a world leader in heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, and parent company UTC Climate, Controls & Security operates 51 factories, employs more than 50,000 people and sells into more than 180 countries. While one of its many claims to fame is that it cools the Sistine Chapel, it is of course better known to us for its vehicle refrigeration units.

The Carrier Transicold Vector, which is available in seven guises, is a common sight on the front of UK refrigerated trailers. Meanwhile its Supra, Siberia and Iceland line-up, keep many a rigid body cool. The company also does a complete range of van refrigeration units.

Carrier has a reputation for having its finger on the pulse of technology, and has offered its E-DRIVE all-electric unit, which transforms engine power into electricity, since the late 1990s.

Another example of its innovation is the ECO-DRIVE power module, which is fitted to the side of the truck’s chassis and operates off the vehicle’s power take-off (PTO). It works independently of the lorry’s engine speed, and communicates with its CAN bus.

Chereau manufactured its first refrigerated trailer in 1950, and continues to specialise in temperature controlled transport today. Some 4,000 semi-trailers and rigid bodies are produced at its Normandy, France, factories every year.

The company prides itself on its ability to custom-build trailers and bodies to its customers’ exact requirements, and has 800 different options available. It claims to produce a staggering 1,600 different variants, meaning the same vehicle is only produced 2.5 times on average.

Chereau invests heavily in research and development, and its trailers include a number of innovative features. These include its Flex-C LED rear lamps, which are practically unbreakable. They are made from a strong polycarbonate, and are mounted on flexible brackets that retract during impact, and then automatically return to their correct position.

While roughly half of Chereau’s reefers are sold into its domestic market, the rest are exported across Europe, including a growing number to the UK.

Family owned Gray & Adams has an enviable reputation for building quality temperature-controlled trailers and rigids. Its customer base is rich and varied, and includes major supermarkets, high-profile fleets, and owner-drivers. While its customers have a broad geographical spread, Gray & Adams is particularly dominant in its domestic Scottish market, and it’s unusual to see a lorry load of shellfish heading south of the border in anything other than a Gray & Adams trailer.

In addition to reefers, the Fraserburgh-based manufacturer produces a full range of multi-temperature vehicles. These feature dividing lanes and insulated bulkheads, splitting the interior laterally or longitudinally, allowing ambient and chilled products to be carried at the same time. It also produces a number of specialist trailers, for moving goods such as live chicks, hanging meat and pharmaceuticals.

Customers looking to maximise their load-carrying potential may want to consider its range of double-deckers, which provide 60% additional floor space. Meanwhile the company claims that its Aerodynamic range can slash fuel costs by as much as 10%.

The company prides itself on its ability to build trailers and bodies to customers’ specific requirements.

Krone is one of Europe’s largest and most successful trailer manufacturers, it is over a century old, and has been building semi-trailers for roughly half of that time.

Although the bulk of the Krone trailers seen on our roads are pulled by European hauliers, that’s changing, as a growing number of UK operators start to appreciate the solid build quality of its products. They’re proving particularly popular with UK hauliers like GBA Services, who work on the continent or have foreign subsidiaries.

The trailer manufacturer has an extensive product portfolio, including its Profi Liner and Mega Liner curtainsiders, Cool Liner refrigerated trailers, Dry Liner box vans and Box Liner skeletals. The Krone Group owns German trailer axle manufacturer Gigant, which produces Krone Trailer Axles on its behalf, but other brands can be fitted as specified by customers. All Krone trailers receive a cathodic dip and powder coating, offering maximum protection from corrosion.

Krone has four manufacturing facilities in Germany, and one in Turkey.

Although Europe’s largest trailer builder, with a €1.8bn turnover and nearly 6,000 employees, Schmitz Cargobull remains the family controlled business it has been since 1892. The current chairman of the management board is the great-grandson of the founder. Manufacturing is spread across 10 sites from its original home in Germany, near the Dutch border, to Russia and China. The sheer scale of its operation allows it to be extremely innovative, with developments such as the Ferroplast sandwich construction body panels and the Modulos galvanised bolted-chassis construction.

Schmitz Cargobull has been building refrigerated trailers since 1950, and today offers a huge range of semi trailer and rigid reefers. It is also at the cutting edge of refrigerated trailer telematics, allowing drivers, operators and customers to be fully informed on the load’s location and temperature.

Although best known for its refrigerated trailers in the UK, in truth, reefers are just a tiny fraction of what it produces. Other well-established products include curtainsiders, dry freight box vans, tippers, skeletals and swap-body drawbars. Its most recent development has been to enter the market for box bodies to fit light commercials from 3.5 tonnes GVW upwards.

SOR isn’t the best known trailer maker in the UK, but don’t let that put you off, as it’s a very different story on the Continent. This Spanish manufacturer, which has produced more than 30,000 vehicles at its Valencia factory so far, has close to 50 years of experience in the refrigerated truck market. More than 50% of what it builds is for export, including to the UK, which is an increasingly important market for the company.

SOR has a reputation for producing some of the lightest reefers on the market, but without compromising robustness. This is reflected in the longevity of its products, and also in the decent residuals they command on the used market.

Although undoubtedly best known for its semi-trailers, SOR also produces a full range of rigid truck and van bodies. It is known for its hanging meat trailers and rigid bodies, and has been manufacturing 20ft and 40ft multimodal swap bodies since the mid 1990s. We anticipate SOR semi-trailers becoming a more common sight on our roads in the coming years.

Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) is one of the world’s leading bus and coach builders with a history of design, engineering and manufacturing excellence spanning more than a century. With offices in UK, USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand, ADL pioneers the latest technology and proudly offers the market’s widest range of low and zero emission buses. Employing over 2,400 people worldwide, ADL has more than tripled revenue in the last decade. This growth is attributable to ADL’s focus on delivering lightweight, fuel efficient vehicles with industry-leading reliability, lowest cost of ownership and world-class aftermarket support.

It is said that no transport manager has ever been fired for buying a DAF. Whether or not there’s any truth in this we don’t know, but it certainly seems to make sense. After all, no matter whether it’s an LF, CF or XF, you know exactly where you are with a DAF – in a drivable, dependable and hugely reliable lorry. Put simply, a DAF truck is a safe pair of hands.

Available from 7.5 tonnes to 19 tonnes, the lightweight LF is an excellent little workhorse. It is consistently the market leader in the 7.5 tonne sector.

The CF is the mainstay of many a UK fleet, with operators appreciating its low operating costs. DAF considerably boosted the truck’s driver appeal in 2017 when it launched an updated version. The highlight of the revamp was the introduction of ZF’s superb TraXon two-pedal transmission.

The larger XF was revised at the same time, and received a host of new features. Don’t let the elderly cab structure put you off, as under the skin this is a very modern machine. It’s also one of the most spacious trucks on the market.

With most right-hand drive DAFs being assembled in Leyland, this is the closest we have to a major domestic truck manufacturer. So it’s only fitting that DAFs are consistently the best-selling trucks in the UK.

Irizar is the parent company of a leading business group in the bus and coach sector and a benchmark in the sectors of electronics, communications (ITS solutions) and rotating machinery.

With over 3,300 employees, the Irizar Group operates through five coach and bus production plants (Spain, Morocco, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa) and five other companies involved in different sectors in Spain, as a result of its industrial diversification policy. It also has its own R&D Centre with a long-term focus on the applied research process and the technological development of proprietary products and systems.

The group’s headquarters are located in the town of Ormaiztegi in Gipuzkoa (Spain), where Creatio, the Irizar Group Research and Development Centre, is also located.

With a turnover exceeding 620 million euros a year, our group enjoys a commercial presence in over 90 countries on five continents.

Founded in 1889,  stronger and younger than ever, nowadays Irizar is a solid, geographically and industrially diversified and continuously growing Group; it is firmly committed to the brand, technology and sustainability, to its own-brand products in both electric coaches and buses and to other products in the sectors in which it operates.

When it was launched in 2012 the latest Mercedes-Benz Actros made headlines, not only thanks to its attractive styling, but because of its ability to sip diesel. Fuel efficiency has continued to improve, and Mercedes claims that the latest Actros, with its second generation Euro 6 engine, is some 7% more efficient than the original Euro 5 version. Its impressive fuel economy was confirmed by Commercial Motor magazine, when in 2017 an Actros running at 44 tonnes managed 8.65mpg around its test route, setting a new record for a Euro 6 truck in the process.

With numerous cab heights and widths, there is a bewildering number of Actros variants available. Meanwhile the distribution sector is well catered for by the Atego rigid range (6.5 to 16 tonnes) and Antos rigids and tractor units (18 tonnes upwards).

With its striking appearance, it’s easy to understand why the Arocs construction range is proving popular, in particular as an 8×4 tipper. But for those operators who prefer a lower cab, Mercedes offers the Econic. This low-entry truck, which until recently was used solely by the refuse industry for kerbside collection, is becoming increasingly popular in the construction sector, particularly in London. The Unimog utility trucks, and Sprinter, Vito and Citan vans, complete what is surely the most extensive range of commercial vehicles offered by a single manufacturer.

Optare have over a century of expertise in using the latest technologies in bus design and manufacturing to deliver the vehicles of today and tomorrow.

Plaxton is the UK’s largest coach builder and has been at the forefront of coach design, engineering and innovation since 1907.

Plaxton produces around 200 coaches per year, primarily for the UK and Ireland but in recent years sales have expanded into Europe and further afield to New Zealand. In addition to touring coaches, Plaxton has unrivalled experience in meeting requirements for wheelchair-accessible coaches for scheduled routes.

It is said that there are two types of lorry driver on Britain’s roads, those that drive a Scania, and those that wish that they drove a Scania! An exaggeration maybe, but there’s certainly no denying that the Swedish truck maker has an enviable reputation amongst HGV drivers, which has been enhanced with the arrival of its highly acclaimed Next Generation R and S series trucks.

It’s not just the men and women behind the steering wheel that wax lyrical about Scania either, as the marque is held in equally high regard by many UK hauliers. Its tractor units are popular across the full spectrum of operators, including owner drivers, small family run firms, supermarket chains and of course high profile hauliers like Eddie Stobart. Although not the cheapest trucks on the market, these customers appreciate Scania’s low total cost of ownership, its reputation for reliability, and its class-leading residual values. What’s more, operators who specify a V8 over a 6-cylinder engine, soon discover that they no longer have a driver recruitment problem.

Already a dominant force in 6×2 tractors, and a frequent market leader in the 8×4 construction sector, now Scania is making a conscious effort to boost the popularity of its 18 to 26 tonne P series urban and regional distribution rigids.

TEMSA, one of Turkey’s leading automotive companies, manufactures and distributes buses and coaches under its own brand in domestic and international markets. TEMSA’s manufacturing facility in Adana has a single-shift annual production capacity of 4,500 buses and coaches and 6,000 light trucks, totaling 10,500 vehicles per year.

The TEMSA Adana Plant occupies a total area of 510,000 square-meters. TEMSA has a range of products that help customers navigate through changing environment and adapt their fleet to new passengers’ requirements and travel trends. TEMSA manufactures Safir and Maraton and tourist coaches, Prestij and Opalin midi-coaches and Avenue city buses designed specifically for urban public transport systems. The facility is also the manufacturing site for the TS 45, TS 35E and TS 30 coaches for the United States market; the Avenue buses, LD coachesHD, Maraton and the MD 9 and MD 7 midi-coaches for the European market.

TEMSA vehicles, designed and manufactured with in-house know-how, are sold to the world’s leading automotive markets as well as to the Turkish market. Differentiated with its quality, TEMSA has 100 % brand awareness in France and Belgium, and 95 % in Germany.

Van Hool of Belgium manufactures approximately 1,400 buses and coaches, and as many as 3,000 commercial vehicles annually of which 80 % are exported worldwide. With a workforce of over 4,500, Van Hool is a major bus manufacturer in Europe, offering a complete range of buses for public transport for international markets, ranging from a 9 m midi bus to a 25 m double articulated low floor bus.

The core activities of VDL Bus & Coach consist of the development, manufacturing, sales and after-sales of a wide range of buses, coaches and chassis modules, the conversion or extension of mini & midi buses and the purchase and sales of second-hand buses. VDL Bus & Coach consists of multiple bus companies that operate cooperatively in the global market. Manufacturing takes place in the Netherlands and Belgium.

VDL Bus & Coach places aspects such as quality, safety, durability, comfort, the environment, low fuel consumption and low maintenance costs in high regard.
Sales of VDL Bus & Coach products take place through a worldwide network consisting of corporate-owned sales offices, importers and agents in more than 30 countries. This makes it possible to offer custom-made transport solutions.

For after-sales service and maintenance, the client can count on rapid, hassle-free assistance from VDL Bus & Coach employees in any of the many service locations.
An extensive distribution network ensures that spare parts and accessories are delivered to the requested destination as quickly as possible.

VDL Bus & Coach is one of the largest bus producers in Europe.

Volvo has long been synonymous with safety, and the current range of trucks has taken its responsible approach to a whole new level. Its lorries are packed full of safety aids, some well hidden, and others well and truly in the limelight. Who could forget Jean-Claude van Damme demonstrating Volvo’s Dynamic Steering on the Epic Split viral video?

It’s not just safety features where Volvo leads the way either, as it’s definitely at the forefront when it comes to all sorts of innovation. The FH’s options list is packed full of exciting features – like I-See, I-Roll and even a Dual Clutch transmission – all designed to save fuel and enhance the driving experience.

The FH and FH16 might turn heads at truck stops, but let’s not forget the FM, which remains a firm favourite with UK fleets. Like its larger sibling, it comes with Volvo’s I-Shift gearbox, which is considered by many to be class-leading.

Like rival Scania, Volvo doesn’t offer anything in the 7.5 tonne sector, but its FL and FE rigids cover all GVWs from 10 to 26 tonnes.

In recent years Volvo has won plenty of friends in the UK construction sector with the heavy-duty FMX 8-wheeler.