Seven Liebherr TA 230s for Thomas Plant Hire
North Wales-based plant hire firm also orders 16 dozers and 17 excavators as part of £21 million package
THE company that has placed the UK’s biggest order to date for Liebherr’s new articulated dumptrucks will not be driving them very far, as the vehicles first task will be working on the expansion of the construction equipment manufacturer’s UK headquarters.
Thomas Plant Hire of North Wales have struck a deal that will see them become one of the country’s biggest users of Liebherr earthmoving equipment. As well as seven of the recently launched TA 230 G8 dump trucks, the £21 million package includes 16 dozers and 17 excavators. Deliveries have started and will continue into next year.
The new trucks will be employed in muckshifting duties on the 15-acre site of Liebherr GB’s new facility adjoining its existing nine-acre complex in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Work will begin soon following delays caused by COVID-19 and the investment will ensure the company has the resources and capacity to support continued growth in the UK.
Family-owned Thomas Plant Hire, who were founded in 2000 and have a network of five depots in addition to their Caerwys head office, have run an L 566 XPower wheel loader in the fleet for some time and managing director Wyn Thomas has been impressed.
He said: ‘Our existing loading shovel has been a very reliable tool with back-up to match, so at an early stage in our expansion plan for 2021 we sat down with the team from Liebherr to discuss what they were able to do for us. Where some manufacturers were saying they had little or no capacity, Liebherr had stock available and capacity in their manufacturing programme to fit in our requirements.
‘The early arrivals on the fleet have been accepted very well by our in-house teams, our clients and our operators, and are proving to be the machines we expected them to be. They are all returning excellent fuel figures and are also very reliable, both points being important to our bottom line.
‘We are very confident in the Liebherr products and that shows, with us being the first company to order them. They look like very well-built trucks and will slot into our operations very well. We look forward to continuing our good relationship with the Liebherr team as time goes on.’
