In the transport industry, weight costs money. It either increases your fuel consumption or stops you carrying as much as you’d like.

In the case of food wholesaler Bestway, the problem was that the latest vans from the firm’s previous supplier had put on weight as a result of being adapted to meet new emissions rules. This reduced the payload available to Bestway, whose deliveries tend to max out its vans’ payloads.

Having learned that Mercedes had managed to make the same changes to the Sprinter without adding any significant amount of weight, the decision was obvious: switch the fleet to Sprinters.

By switching the traditional ply-lining to a lightweight polycarbon alternative, Bestway’s was able to offer a 3.5t van in Euro 5b emissions specification with a 1,200kg payload. This virtually sealed the deal, according to Bestway’s transport manager, Pretash Patel:

“This was a good deal higher than our established van supplier could come up with. Every single kilo counts in our operation, so the Sprinter’s payload advantage was crucial to Rygor winning the business.”

“Our move to Mercedes-Benz Vans has been a resounding success.   As well as using every bit of the Sprinter’s available payload we’ve had very positive feedback from our drivers, who say it’s a more comfortable drive than the vehicles they were in previously.”

Payload isn’t always a deal breaker, and for many operators the differences between marques aren’t significant. But in some cases they are, and this appears to be yet another advantage enjoyed by the Sprinter.