Worksop, East Midlands based Duke Distribution has added five more Scania V8 vehicles supplied by Keltruck to further upgrade their mostly Scania fleet.
The impressive Nottinghamshire based fleet was supplied by Simon McGuinness, Account Manager.
Commenting on the deal James Robinson, Managing Director at family business Duke Distribution, told the Worksop Guardian:
We used to operate trackway vehicles and we were always struggling to man them in the summer through the peak busier periods. I thought if I get my own trucks, I could subcontract myself to the company I used to work for, that was the initial plan.
But because of Covid, we didn’t actually turn a wheel for the first six months. I thought it was the worst decision of my life. I’d already committed to the wages of two drivers that were on the trucks. I didn’t want to let them down because they had left secure jobs. I had to fund everything through the equity from my house initially. All the startup capital was pretty much dead money.
I didn’t expect to have this much growth in the start of the third year – going from two to 25 trucks has been a big jump. A lot of haulage companies that have been going for 50 years have only got 20-30 lorries. To have what we’ve got now, it’s quite incredible.
Talking about his father, Dale, James praised him for his help, after coming out of retirement to help the company:
He’s given advice and helped me along. He’s really accelerated my personal growth.
I’ve always been really close with him, but when you start facing challenges together it does bring you closer.
JAMES ROBINSON
David Morgan, Keltruck Limited’s Sales Director, commented:
It speaks to the strength of our two companies’ relationship, the Scania product and Keltruck’s aftersales support when you can repeatedly supply a customer with their latest trucks.
I am very pleased that we were able to supply these new vehicles to Duke Distribution and that the Scania brand continues to be relied upon by the Robinson family for its prestige, driver comfort & acceptance and whole life costs through our total operating economy.
DAVID MORGAN
Commenting on the relationship between Duke Distribution and Keltruck Scania, Chris D. Kelly, chairman, said:
I was delighted to be at Keltruck Scania Worksop to handover the latest batch of five V8 Scanias to James, Dale & the Robinson family and I know that the drivers will be absolutely thrilled with their new vehicles.
Duke Distribution is a family business running on family values. Our business is similarly privately owned with a family feel and those same values drive everything we do – so we have a lot in common and it’s an absolute pleasure to be doing business together.
CHRIS D. KELLY
The relationship with Duke Distribution follows several decades of successful trading with former Robinson family businesses including Eve Trakway, Lion Trackhire and TPA Portable Roadways, led by Keltruck’s Steve Fletcher (appointed New Sales Manager in 2018), whilst this latest delivery of V8 590R vehicles follows a front cover of industry bible Commercial Motor for Duke with a Keltruck supplied Scania.
