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End of the road for
gritter maintenance
at Warminster
L-R, Paul Jones, Phil Gleed, Nigel Levett, Les Noble and Paul Grearson stand beside the last repaired gritter truck
DSG Warminster recently completed
the repair of the last Wiltshire County
Council gritting vehicle as the fouryear
contract ended.
Work with the Council started in June 2006
as part of a MOD Wider Markets Initiative.
The contract with Wiltshire County Council
was for the support of the Council’s winter
vehicle fleet. These vehicles appear during
the winter, mainly at night, to grit and salt
the roads in order to keep the traffic
flowing through the night and into the
following morning. DSG’s work consisted of
the maintenance and repair of the vehicles
on their downtime during the summer, along
with roadside support and breakdown
recovery in the winter.
Most of the trucks used for gritting are on
their second life. The council bought them
from haulage contractors, usually with high
mileage. However, mileage is not a major
consideration for the Council, as long as
they were in good condition. All 38 vehicles
in the fleet had snowploughs and hoppers
fitted to take the rock salt and grit, and
there were an additional 20 demountable
bodies to maintain. The condition of the
vehicles was an initial concern for DSG’s
project manager Matt Akers. Matt told
Digest, “The equipment had suffered from
inadequate attention for some time, and
some of the vehicles were not actually
News in brief
Terry Neale, a provision clerk from B Vehicle
Cluster at DSG Land Supply in Telford, recently
deployed to Camp Bastion. Terry’s tour length is
twelve months and he will work as an administrator
supporting the DSG team in Camp Bastion. Terry
told Digest, “I look forward to supporting the team
out in Afghanistan and I am looking forward to the
many challenges that lie ahead.”
roadworthy. One of the first priorities was
dealing with corrosion, which was endemic
given the salty and damp conditions in which
the vehicles operated. Chassis were treated,
and the hoppers painted, and this soon
made a difference across the fleet. With the
return of each vehicle every year, we were
able to upgrade and maintain their
condition.”
“
I am delighted with
DSG’s performance
under the contract, and
would like to thank the
staff at Warminster for
their dedication in
keeping my vehicles in
”
such good condition.
Diane Ware, Wiltshire County Council’s
project manager for the programme, added,
“I am delighted with DSG’s performance
under the contract, and would like to thank
the staff at Warminster for their dedication
in keeping my vehicles in such good
condition.”
4
DIGEST December/January 2011 www.dsg.mod.uk