Ryder, a leading independent provider of commercial vehicle rental, contract hire, and maintenance services in the UK, is supplying 162 new DAF Euro 6 vehicles to international textile, hygiene and facilities services specialist Elis.

This is the first HGV order by Elis since it acquired Berendsen, and the new vehicles are being supplied in new ‘Elis’ livery designed specifically for the UK market. The new vehicles, which will replace outgoing models, will carry out a range of, mostly, laundry delivery collections operating across 38 Elis sites. Ryder was selected for the new contract following a detailed benchmarking exercise and consultation on Elis’ projected fleet and commercial requirements.

The vehicles are being supplied on a full contract hire basis with full maintenance and are suitable for the heavy usage requirements of Elis’ operations, which can involve up to 35 drops per day for an individual vehicle.

The specification of the vehicles includes dedicated versions for use in specific sectors including healthcare, hospitality and workwear, together with multi-use vehicles. Healthcare vehicles are specified with sanitation units for carrying hospital bed sheets and curtains. The sanitation units are designed to ‘fog’ once sealed, to destroy bacteria.

Portable sanitation units are also specified to enable other vehicles to operate in the healthcare sector. Peter Kelly, Elis Group compliance and fleet manager, said: “We have a longstanding relationship with Ryder and they understand our business and what we are looking for from our vehicle fleet. This is a high-profile contract as it is the first HGV order Elis has made following its acquisition of Berendsen. “Ryder was awarded the contract to supply these new vehicles based on the competitive contract terms they offered together with the excellent support we receive from the account management team, the engineering team, and the Ryder network, who understand the service demands across our 38 sites.”

Shaun Stephenson, Ryder director of engineering, said: “Our long-standing relationship and operational experience with Elis (formerly Berendsen) enables us to understand in detail their commercial transport requirements.

Elis’ vehicles operate in an extremely demanding environment and our account management team and engineers have worked closely with Elis, and managed the supply chain, including the bodybuilders and specialist equipment suppliers, to ensure that we provide the right vehicles and specialised adaptations, service backup, and commercial terms to fully meet their operational demands.” The new vehicles are being phased into the Elis fleet with the final vehicles being supplied in 2020.