New-look Hanson Mercedes hit the road

A clutch of five Mercedes-Benz tractor units have become the first in Hanson’s cement fleet to wear the company’s white and blue livery.



The rebranding follows a decision by Hanson to merge their Castle Cement and Civil and Marine slag cement businesses into a new division, Hanson Cement, and phase out trucks in the red and white colours of Castle or the blue of Civil and Marine.



Andrew Bridge, distribution director at Hanson Cement, explained: ‘There were obvious synergies to bringing the two powder businesses together and creating a single operating unit, and this process was completed earlier this year.



‘The new livery is clean and simple, but at the same time eye-catching, and the early feedback from customers and others who have seen our latest Mercedes on the road has all been very positive.

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Supplied by Peterborough dealers Intercounty Truck & Van, the new trucks are all high-roofed 6x2 Axor 2543 models.



Hanson Cement operate a fleet of 170 articulated tractors, most of which pull powder tank trailers at the maximum 44 tonnes gcw. These vehicles work from four distribution sites and three production facilities – at Padeswood in Mold, north Wales; at Ribblesdale in Clitheroe, Lancashire; and at Ketton, in Stamford, Lincolnshire – all of which feature industry-leading environmental performance with the lowest levels of CO2 emissions. 



Mercedes-Benz command an 80% of the Hanson Cement fleet – it is Hanson’s policy, under their four-yearly replacement cycle, to allocate the remaining 20% of new vehicle orders to a second brand.



Like the rest of the construction industry Hanson Cement has been hit by the effects of the recession, but Mr Bridge now feels able to strike a note of cautious optimism.



‘It’s certainly been a difficult trading period but the market appears finally to have stabilized in terms of volumes,’ he said. ‘We have restructured the business and are now a lot leaner. But we’ve also retained our infrastructure, so that when the market picks up again we’ll be well placed to take advantage by servicing the increasing demand.’