Ocado boosts fleet with 27 Thermo King Advancer trailers

Online retailer Ocado has ordered 27 Thermo King Advancer A400 trailers from Marshall Fleet Solutions as part of a fleet upgrade which will see it take delivery of 46 units from the manufacturer this year.

Ocado currently runs a fleet of 264 trailers - 224 of them refrigerated and 40 ambient. Double deck temperature-controlled trailers account for 147 of the refrigerated group with the remaining 77 split between standard single and multi-temperature models.

The new TK Advancer A400 units are fitted on Paneltex 13.6m tri-axle, single compartment, double deck trailers which will be used for trunking from Ocado’s four main customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) to its regional spoke sites, covering over 135,000 km a year.

Graham Thomas, Ocado fleet operations manager said: “The improved unit functionality and airflow, as well as distinct advantages in fuel economy, means that the cost of ownership of the trailers with Advancers is a far better proposition for our business.

He added: “From the very early days in our fleet, Advancer looked to be a game changer for us. We worked closely with both Marshall Fleet Solutions and Paneltex to incorporate as many Advancers as possible into our double deck fleet as quickly as possible.

“Over the last 12 months during the pandemic, demand for our business has been insatiable with no signs of this dropping off as online home shopping becomes the new normal. Each of these TK Advancer trailers can hold the equivalent of 12 vans of groceries so they are playing a vital role in ensuring our business and operational needs are fully met.”

Mark Howell, MD at Marshall Fleet Solutions, said: “Through our close working relationship with the Ocado team, we also believed that Advancer would be a perfect fit for their intensive daily trunking operations. So, it’s pleasing to see how this partnership between our two companies has continued to grow and to see Ocado taking the lead by incorporating a significant number of Advancer systems into its double deck fleet for the first time this year.”