Outstanding
reliability from its previous Mercedes Atego helped to persuade Graig
Environmental Recycling Services that its new 7.5-tonner should also wear a
three-pointed star.
The latest vehicle to wear the Pontypridd-based firm's
colours was supplied by Cardiff dealer Euro Commercials. An Atego 816 model, it
has a cage-sided tipping body by Cardiff Truck & Bus, and a one-tonne
tuckaway tail-lift.
The latest Atego has lined up alongside the two other trucks
that Graig operates from its base on the Maritime Industrial Estate in
Maesycoed - one is a 12-tonne Mercedes Atego which the firm bought in 2006,
when it became one of the first trucks in Britain to be fitted with a digital
tachograph, the other a rival marque 13-tonner.
Graig Environmental Recycling Services was founded some 20
years by Gerald Selby, who last year underwent a
liver transplant operation from which he has made a strong recovery; Mr
Selby remains a director but his daughter Nicola has now taken the helm as
Managing Director.
The firm encourages its customers to save as much of their
waste as possible, by providing a ‘one stop' recycling service - it buys,
processes and supplies non ferrous and ferrous metals, alloy and scrap
materials such as glass, plastics, paper and cardboard, as well as providing a
confidential shredding service and undertaking factory clearances.
Graig's trucks operate primarily in south Wales but venture
occasionally into west Wales, where the company has some local authority work.
Director Steve Binding says, "The
trucks are used to collect recyclables and bring them back to base for sorting
and segregating. Most of this material is then exported."
The firm remains busy, despite the economic downturn, and
its new 7.5-tonner has replaced a 3.5-tonne vehicle which had to be
doubled-manned. "We needed something a bit bigger and this Mercedes has given
us double the payload," continues Mr Binding. "But because it also has a
tail-lift, we can send this vehicle out with a single operative."
And he adds, "We're very pleased with the
Atego. It has two drivers, both of whom say it's nice to drive, while Euro's
sales executive Huw Salway did a great job of helping us to sort the body and
delivering the chassis on time."
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