The family car, however, is not seen by many in the same light as the family pet.

The car is the workhorse of the home, journeying from A to B and beyond. However, it shares many similarities with ‘Fido’. For example, if you ‘feed’ it with the right fuel, clean and care for it with regular trips to the garage, it will take care of you and your loved ones out on the ever-expanding UK road network.

Now! If you don’t have a dog or a car and are thinking of making an addition you’re your homestead there is a very important question you need to ask yourself. ‘Do I buy new, or ‘second hand’ / pre-loved?’

When it comes to a dog, you’ll most likely choose the cutest puppy you can find. You will then take it home to nurture and train so that you can watch it grow into a beloved member of the family. It’s not all going to be plain sailing, however. Puppies are often more expensive than an older dog. There are house and obedience training to consider, not to mention ensuring that they don’t chew everything in sight costing you even more money.

On the other hand, if you were to choose an older dog from a local rescue centre, you can find yourself with a dog who is already housetrained. Yes, there will be an acclimation period but once you’re through this, that dog will be as loving as any other as long as you take care of it.

The same goes for cars. The average family car costs £28,000 brand new. As long as you take care of it you will have many happy years driving around the country. You may enjoy the new car smell which fades over time and be wowed by all the technology hidden in the dash, half of which you may never use! One year later that same car could be worth £7,000 less with 10,000 miles on the clock and you have to ask yourself, ‘did I get my monies worth?’

If you decide for whatever reason to sell your relatively new car, imagine what a great deal this will be for the next owner. They are getting a nearly new car with low mileage for a great price. Still a reliable and loveable ‘workhorse’ to be accepted into any family.

Commercial fleets work in the same way as both of these examples. As long as a tractor/trailer unit is maintained and cared for it can be a valued asset to any business. Companies rely on these ‘steel horses’ to facilitate their day to day needs, making deliveries up and down the country transporting all kinds of goods. A well-maintained fleet is the backbone of any good logistics company.

As one of the top Logistics players in the UK, we at Culina Group make a commitment to client base to operate a brand new fleet on a two-year replacement cycle. We are on the road in a “state of the art” fleet. This is a significant cost obligation (like the puppy) that we fulfill on behalf of our clients to represent them as best we can at all times.

‘What happens to all of the ‘old’ trucks at the end of their two-year cycle?’ I hear you cry. Well, like the dogs home, all of our nearly new trucks receive a second chance to learn some ‘new tricks’ with a new logistics family. We sell these vehicles on our truck sales website, www.culinatrucksales.co.uk. All of our vehicles are fully maintained with a full-service history and would be a great addition to any fleet.

With the increasing popularity of sites such as eBay over the past 10 years it is getting easier to buy anything your heart desires including tractors and trailers, but there will always be that niggle in the back of your mind regarding reliability. Is the description 100% reliable, are they hiding anything from the potential buyer? The reliability of a vehicle can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. If you are unable to make a delivery due to a vehicle being stuck on the side of the road because a snap decision was made on price over quality, this could be detrimental not only to your profits but to your reputation also.

Well, with Culina Group you will have none of that worry. You can call our Fleet Manager to discuss any vehicle advertised and arrange a viewing to suit you.

Our vehicles are beloved members of the Culina Group family but the time comes when we just have to let them go. We thank them for their service and hope they can find themselves a new home where they can be loved once more. And if your heart is set on a cab with that ‘new interior smell’ I’m sure we could throw in an air freshener to sweeten the already great deal.

“To absolutely minimise our on-going impact on the environment, Culina are looking at fuel economy, vehicle efficiency, and vehicle utilisation from many angles”, said Group Fleet Manager – Mark Matkin.

“We have made significant investments in developing an extremely aerodynamic fleet of units and trailers. Our Culina fleet runs on high specification (Goodyear “Fuel Max”) tyres that minimise rolling resistance and maximise fuel economy.”

“We have recently invested in new “Slipstream” fuel efficient aerodynamic rigid fleet. Urban short trailers are being utilised to optimise fleet usage, provide fleet flexibility, and minimise unnecessary mileage.”

“Another significant environmental investment we have made is in trailers. We now have 62 LST Trailers (Longer Semi Trailers) which can carry between 2 & 4 Pallets extra. We will now be taking trailers off the road and moving more goods per trailer”.

State of the art refrigerated curtain sider trailers have also been introduced to the Culina Fleet. These special trailers can deliver chilled goods and then collect ambient goods and vice versa, again minimising unnecessary fleet mileage and optimising fleet usage.

“We now have the greenest fleet available to Culina”, said Mark, “This is testimony to Culina’s commitment to environmental efficiency”.

It is that precept which has driven our decision to take occupation of the first warehouse distribution unit to be built at the new National Import Centre being developed by the Peel Group as part of its multi-million pound Port Salford development.

It is the UK’s first tri-modal inland port facility and distribution park, accessible by mainline rail, motorway and inland waterway.

Why move to Port Salford? Because we recognise that retail trends are changing – smaller convenience stores are gaining popularity over megastores amongst consumers. That means smaller and more frequent orders are increasingly being lodged by retailers.

As a growing, market-leading operator, we need to be fleet of foot in order to respond to that new dynamic. We recognised that we needed to consolidate our operations and increase the capacity of our network via the development of larger, shared-user logistics facilities, while maintaining the cost base for our food and drink clients.

Our existing North West site, at Middleton, is only around 14 miles away from Port Salford, but its capacity is just 10,000 pallets. It isn’t a ‘future-proof’ solution. With 45,000 pallet spaces, Port Salford has 36% more capacity than our current largest ambient facility at Wolverhampton, which has 33,000. Our new base will provide the vital additional capacity that is required to service our business growth.

Location is also strategically important. Port Salford will enable Culina to establish a major foothold in a key geographical region. Approximately half of the UK population – 35 million people – is located within a 150 mile radius of Port Salford. Its position offers significant advantages for us to reach the consumption heartland of the UK more directly, more frequently.

Port Salford is a unique development in the UK: a multimodal facility that offers excellent connectivity by road, rail and water. There are 10 motorways within 10 miles and the site sits adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal, connecting directly with the Port of Liverpool and Manchester, the second largest city in the UK. That gives us real flexibility and the ability to offer our clients an unparalleled level of choice.

What’s more, the rail and water links will provide genuine environmental benefits by reducing road mileage and carbon dioxide emissions. This ‘green logistics hub’ is the type of innovation that will enhance Culina’s market-leading credentials and put us even further ahead of our rivals.

This is innovation at its best – and we are looking forward to enjoying the benefits a state-of-the-art freight gateway at the heart of Great Britain can offer us and our customers.