Antrim-based Kerr's Tyres has taken delivery of three new Mercedes-Benz Sprinters to allow mobile technicians to provide reliable service to their customers, which include several leading supermarkets.

Its latest three Long-bodied Sprinter 313 CDIs arrived, like the pair of identical models which entered service in January, via Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI), Northern Ireland’s only franchised dealer for commercial vehicles bearing the famous three-pointed star.

Kerr’s Tyres’ fleet of 15 vans is now dominated by Sprinters chosen, says company founder and Managing Director Norman Kerr, for their unbeatable combination of reliability, comfort, safety and low overall cost, allied to top-quality back-up from the dealer.

“If a customer’s truck suffers a tyre problem on its way to a timed delivery slot at a supermarket RDC, I simply cannot afford to send out one of my technicians in a van that might break down,” he explains.

“We promise our customers a completely dependable service, so it’s imperative that our suppliers offer us the same level of reliability.”

Kerr’s was founded in 2002 and also has depots in Belfast and Coleraine. As well as providing 24-hour, seven-day roadside repair cover, its technicians use their vans to visit customers’ premises where they carry out regular inspections and routine maintenance.

Mr Kerr continues: “Our Sprinters have proved themselves to be superbly reliable, while in the extremely unlikely event of anything going wrong I know I can call on Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI) at any time of day or night, to fix the problem with a minimum of fuss.

“The fact that the local dealer’s workshop is open around the clock means we can get our vans serviced overnight, which is another major advantage.

“We have an excellent relationship with the sales and service teams at MB Truck & Van. They understand our business very well and whenever we order a new vehicle it’s always delivered with all ancillaries – compressors, beacons, Safe-T-Bar bumpers – fitted and ready to go.

“Our technicians are very pleased with their vans too,” he adds. “They feel much less tired after a day working in a Sprinter than they do after a shift in any of our other vehicles, while we also take comfort from the fact that Mercedes-Benz vans are the safest on the road.”

Kerr’s Tyres acquired its latest vans through a highly flexible Agility funding package from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. This offers all the benefits of conventional hire purchase with a Guaranteed Future Value (GFV) – including low monthly repayments – but gives operators extra options at the end of the term.

Key to the Agility concept is the agreement of a GFV for the vehicle. At the end of the agreement the customer can choose whether to pay off the final lump sum and keep the vehicle, use the vehicle as a part exchange for a brand new one, or return it free of any further obligations, apart from an excess mileage charge if the initially agreed limit has been exceeded, and damage charges over and above fair wear and tear.