www.truckandtrack.com Spring 2023 Truck and Track 27 FUEL MANAGEMENT North Yorkshire-based haulage specialists, Welbeck Transport Ltd, have declared a ‘second-to-none service’ as one of the key factors in their decision to upgrade to Merridale’s fuel management system. The family-run company, based in Malton, specialise in delivering a variety of goods all over the UK, ranging from steel and timber, through to building structures and waste. Their fleet consists of seven articulated tractor units and 18-tonne rigids, all of which are flatbeds. Jan Berek of Welbeck Transport said “Before switching to Merridale we had an ancient fuel management system in place, we must have had it for over 30 years. It was a management system as such but nothing like now, you could run very basic reports but could only identify the vehicle and not the different drivers for example. It did the job for a while but then eventually it crashed and the parts had become obsolete.” “After speaking with a consultant, we narrowed the shortlist down to Merridale and one other company but the level of service from Merridale stood out over the competition. They were always very quick to respond and just seemed more on-the-ball overall.” With this upgrade, they now use Merridale’s MX-I heavyduty diesel pump with integrated fuel management system, alongside web-based software Merridale FuelWorks. Welbeck Transport also invested in a Merridale MX-T tank gauge. As standard, a Merridale tank management system features a highly accurate gauge with precision pressure probes and overfill sensors. As well as this, they can now include stock depletion detection, to alert you immediately, via SMS, of an unexpected drop in fuel level. This means that you will be alerted to any severe leak or theft from the tank that occurs, irrespective of where you are at the time. By transferring the data to the Merridale FuelWorks web-based service, via the fuel management integration, you can benefit further from fuel stock prediction, automatic delivery detection, low-level warnings, and order prompts, all accessible on any web-enabled device. As well as this, Merridale FuelWorks allows fleet operators to setup multiple users across multiple sites to access unrivalled reporting features including fuel, cost, environmental impact, and vehicle and driver performance. On Merridale FuelWorks, Jan Berek said, “Being able to access such depths of data from anywhere online has made my job a whole lot easier. Part of the old process was to have the drivers write a log of their usage so that I could cross reference that with my reports and make sure it all adds up. I no longer feel the need to do this given how accurate and reliable Merridale FuelWorks is, I’ve found that I now have a lot more confidence in the reporting.” www.merridale.co.uk Welbeck Transport trust in Merridale’s service for upgrade Following more than half a century in the industry, with almost 20 years of which as Merridale’s Sales Director, Stephen Hannan has decided to step away from his full-time position as he looks towards retirement. Having been introduced to the world of fuel pumps back in 1971 when he spent his summers working at Murphys’ and Heron Service Stations serving people their fuel, as was common practice at the time, he started what he calls his “first proper job” at Pump Maintenance Ltd in 1973. Over the next 25 years, he remained in place as Pump Maintenance Ltd, or PM Services as it was later known, merged into Avery Berkel Forcourt Services in 1995 and was then transferred to Gilbarco in 1999, later known as Marconi and Gilbarco Veeder Root. Stephen said “During this period I progressed through several roles from Office Manager to Sales Manager, before finally ending up as National Commercial Sales Manager for Gilbarco. Here I was based in their Witton office together with Kathy Withers as Commercial Contracts Manager.” After building the commercial division to well over £2.5 million turnover in 2003, Gilbarco was sold to the Danaher Group by 2006. As a result of Danaher’s lack of interest in the commercial marketplace, both Kathy and Stephen joined MIS Fuel Monitoring, now Merridale Ltd, as Contracts Manager and Sales Director respectively. “Working for Merridale has been a great pleasure, especially over the last few years. Here we have a business focused on delivering high standards for our customers which is what I have always striven to achieve. After avoiding scheduled retirement back in 2020 and with Kathy taking retirement in Autumn 2022, I have reduced my role to an on-demand consultant to the business where I am happy to assist Merridale in continuing to maintain their high standards and financial security. I am also happy that the Sales team, now led by Paul Russell as National Sales Manager, will continue to the same high levels that I have always endeavored to achieve.” Having worked with Stephen since joining the company in 2016, Paul Russell said “Stephen has shaped and developed a fantastic sales department at Merridale, one that I am proud to be part of and now have the opportunity of managing. I was new to the industry when I started with Merridale so I owe a lot to Stephen and Kathy for guiding me through my early fuel management career. I don’t think I ever came across a piece of equipment on any of the site visits that Stephen or Kathy couldn’t identify or tell me about, and to have that kind of support has been invaluable.” Merridale Sales Director begins winding down to retirement
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