ESSEX RECOVERY AND REPAIR COMPANY NATIONWIDE ASSISTANCE GROUP HAS EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AS IT FORGES AHEAD WITH A STRATEGY TO BE THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS, WRITES ON SCENE.
On arrival at the HQ of Nationwide Assistance Group (NWVA) in Maldon, Essex, On Scene is given a tour of the recovery and repair firm’s busy workshop. Metropolitan Police cars and vans nestle among a host of other vehicles sitting on lifts waiting to be repaired, a visual reminder of the rigours of policing the UK’s capital city. In the foreground, meanwhile, a hearse waits its turn; the long, glass-sided vehicle is a blatant reminder that death is never far away in the recovery sector, even in the repair workshop.
Group MD Stephan Surmont tells us that the weekend before, NWVA recovery drivers were called out to a collision in Colchester involving four fatalities; it’s a job that frequently puts you face to face with the fragility of life. “Every week we have fatalities,” he confirms. “We are closely connected to first responders.”
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE OPERATOR RICHFORD MOTOR SERVICES LIKED THE REMOTE CONTROLLED FIRST MOVER CAR TRANSPORTER SO MUCH THEY BECAME THE UK AGENT FOR IT. AND THAT'S NOT THE ONLY PRODUCT THIS MOVER AND SHAKER SELLS TO THE RECOVERY SECTOR EITHER, AS ON SCENE FINDS OUT.
The increasing number of battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles on our roads has thrown up many challenges for recovery operators, especially in the case of vehicle fires. And at the same time, the increasing height, width and weight of many cars, particularly 4x4s and SUVs, makes it ever more difficult to remove some of them from multi-storey car parks and other restricted locations when they break down. Even more mundane problems, such as the loss of a set of keys and the added complications of electronic handbrakes and other modern technology, can create problems for those tasked with recovering vehicles and transporting them to a workshop.
Conventional recovery vehicles such as spec lifts and slide-beds are of limited use in restricted locations, often struggling to get close enough to a casualty vehicle to be of any real use.
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M8 RECOVERY IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED SCOTTISH OPERATOR WITH SOME BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED, STRIKINGLY-THEMED TRUCKS, AS ON SCENE REPORTS.
M8 Recovery has grown since the turn of the millennium to become one of the best known and instantly recognisable recovery outfits in Scotland. Based in Hillington, close to Glasgow airport, its premises has excellent links to the main arteries, including the M8, the M74 and the M9. It has a strong portfolio of contracts, recovering all sizes of vehicle, and works for light and heavy commercial dealerships, haulage outfits, the major breakdown clubs and Glasgow City Council, among others.
The company was founded in 2000 by Alex McManus junior, starting out with light vehicles but steadily expanding the fleet and scope of its operation to become one of the premier rescuers of trucks and buses in central Scotland. Its home is the M8 Recovery Centre, which was formerly home to Renault Trucks. As a purpose-built commercial vehicle site with workshops and substantial storage, it was perfect for M8’s needs.
FINDING, SPECIFYING AND INTRODUCING A NEW HEAVY WRECKER BE A LONG JOURNEY, BUT IT'S WELL WORTH IT IF IT MEANS GETTING THE RIGHT KIT FOR THE JOB, AS ISIS RESCUE'S NEW VOLVO FH 540 WITH ESSEL BODY AND RECOVERY EQUIPMENT DEMONSTRATES. ON SCENE REPORTS.
The capital cost of new recovery vehicles and equipment has increased considerably in recent years with supply issues during and after the pandemic leading to longer lead times and upward pressure on costs. Even though demand for mainstream vehicles has fallen, high-specification chassis for specialist applications still carry a price premium, and the cost of a decent quality chassis cab remains at a record high.
The same applies with the equipment and bodywork, lead times on which can still be more than a year, and the price considerably more than what it was a few years ago. But operators do, at least, have a bit more choice when it comes to the number of manufacturers vying for business in the UK market.
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EUROTOW HAS GROWN QUICKLY IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, UNDER THE STEWARDSHIP OF ITS SECOND-GENERATION MANAGEMENT TEAM, WHICH HAS RENEWED ITS FLEET AND PUT ITS FIRST BRAND-NEW – AND HIGHLY VISIBLE – RECOVERY TRUCK ON THE ROAD. ON SCENE REPORTS.
If you see Eurotow’s trucks out on the roads, you’ll know it. The fluorescent green livery certainly stands out from the crowd. The latest truck to join this impressively liveried fleet is a DAF XF equipped with a Boniface Trident body, which is the first new heavy truck the company has purchased in its 26-year history. The purchase, admits director Jake Hicks, came about almost by accident, as he’d been looking for a second-hand Euro-6 vehicle.
“I actually looked at 22-plate unit from Neil Yates [Neil Yates Recovery],” Jake says. “But then he said they had a new DAF XF in build and ready to go, and asked if I’d be interested. Then he video-called me asked what colour I wanted it, as he’d got the green and yellow spray out. And before I knew it, it was painted.
ON SCENE DROPS IN ON BODYBUILDER AMS RECOVERY TRUCK BODIES AND FINDS THAT A LOT HAS CHANGED THERE IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
When we last visited Wisbech, Cambridgeshire-based AMS Recovery Truck Bodies over two years ago, we were impressed with the quality of its bodies and the high specification of the new chassis it could supply from stock. Concentrating on the light to medium weight end of the market, the company demonstrated a thorough understanding of customer requirements and the legislation governing the operation of recovery and transporter vehicles in the 3.5-7.5 tonne sector.
AMS was founded in the London area by Matt White, who worked as a recovery driver but despaired of the failings of the lightweight transporter bodies he had to work with and began to design and build his own. Word soon got around and he was asked to build them for other operators. A shortage of skilled labour in the London area and a requirement for more space eventually led Matt to move to Wisbech.
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