The trailers will be used to deliver an array of Linde materials handling equipment, including high mast forklift trucks, which can be challenging to transport. Such machines require trailers that have been designed specially – which is what originally sent Linde Andover’s way in 1999.

Its return to the same manufacturer this year to replace its latest batch of trailers is testament to its prowess as well as its competitive prices, says Rental and Transport Manager Audrey Gordon.

“We did look at other manufacturers,” says Gordon, “but the quality of Andover’s trailers brought us back.

“Another thing that marks Andover out is its service,” she adds. “We worked face- to-face with the Sales Director, who always made himself very available, and whose knowledge is second to none.”

The trailers Andover has designed for Linde this time around – with TSE sliding roofs and curtainsided bodies – are specially tailored for use with forklift trucks.

They come fitted with swing-out pillars; hydraulically lifting floors; a full height and full width hydraulic skinned ramp operated by radio control for safety; and a 16,000 lb Superwinch with remote control. The floors are reinforced for the imposed wheel loads of the forklift trucks – which can weigh up to 16 tonnes – and 14 pairs of lashing points are fixed along the length of the trailers to hold machinery in place. The trailers are constructed with double beavertails to allow for machines with very low ground clearance.

They will be in operation five days a week, performing five to six drops a day, and covering an average of 100,000 km a year. The roads they cover will range from motorways to narrow farm tracks, including busy central London streets en route to customers in areas as crowded as Covent Garden.

Linde, which is over 125 years old, delivers materials handling equipment all over the UK. Its customers include DHL, Hall Hunter and Harrods. The new Andover trailers will be split between depots in Camberley and Bridgend, each of which has a fleet of 500 short-term hire machines and 200 long-term.