Coming to a suburb near you — Iceland’s new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter home delivery vans.
Iceland Foods is switching its entire fleet of home delivery vehicles to Mercedes-Benz Sprinters driven by staff trained in a smart new Centre of Excellence sponsored by the manufacturer.
The move follows the high-profile retailer’s recent return to the online shopping arena it pioneered, back in 1999, before abandoning it until recently, when it re-launched its online service at nearly 300 stores.
All but a handful of Iceland’s 800 stores already offer the firm’s well-known home delivery service, which is used by up to 190,000 customers every week, and Iceland is replacing the 1,300 vans currently assigned to this operation with Sprinter 313 CDI chassis cabs fitted with temperature-controlled box bodies.
More than 300 of the new vans will be on the road by the end of this year, and to ensure that driver’s conduct and efficiency matches the quality of their vans, Iceland has invested £250,000 in a ‘Centre of Excellence’ at which drivers will be given vehicle familiarisation training outlining the Sprinter’s key features then providing practical guidance on applying anticipatory and defensive techniques at the wheel – not only do these save fuel, they also improve safety and cut maintenance costs.
Drivers will also be given ‘hearts and minds’ customer service training, and Iceland’s Head of Home Alex McKinlay says that the company is expecting drivers to live up to the standard set by the new vans:
“We’ve said to them: ‘We’re providing these fantastic vehicles but we want something from you in return, in the shape of the very best customer service and a reduction in our accident repair bill’. Their response has been every bit as positive as we’d hoped – the drivers love their new Mercedes and really appreciate the investments we’re making in them.”
Iceland undertook a comprehensive vehicle evaluation exercise before committing to Mercedes-Benz. Key to that decision was the Sprinter’s reputation for reliability and proven fuel-efficiency, as well as its market-leading armoury of safety features, and the round-the-clock repair and maintenance back-up of the Mercedes-Benz dealer network.
Powered by smooth and economical 129 hp engines, Iceland’s Sprinters are air conditioned and equipped with hands-free Bluetooth telephony, as well as telematics systems that monitor driving style, and forward- and driver-facing cameras (a trend I discussed recently).
Crucial, too, was the availability of a fully automatic transmission. Alex McKinlay confirms:
“Not only does the auto ’box make a difficult job that bit easier for our drivers, it will also improve safety and help to reduce wear and tear on the driveline. This, coupled with the 24-hour support of Mercedes-Benz dealers, will keep vehicle downtime to a minimum.”
Nearly 1,300 of Iceland’s 1,600 drivers are scheduled to attend this course during the first year, while longer-term staff development initiatives will also be introduced.
Their purpose-designed, dual-compartment bodies are being built by Gray & Adams and Paneltex, with refrigeration by GAH and Alex. The vehicles carry up to 72 crates in a one-third, two-thirds split – the front, frozen section operates at minus 22ºC, while the bigger compartment is used to carry chilled and ambient products at 4ºC.