Whale Tankers and Econ Engineering have announced a partnership agreement which will see the two specialist vehicle manufacturers working together on future demountable system applications.
The announcement, which was made during the opening day of the annual CV Show at the NEC Birmingham, will mean that local authorities and private operators alike will be able to benefit further from the joint winter maintenance technology and expertise of Econ and the tanker experience of Whale.
Demountable systems have long been a favoured solution with many local authorities, allowing them greater flexibility and utilisation of their vehicle fleets. With the ability to swap bodies on a single chassis, one truck can be productive all year round, giving seasonal and indeed daily interchangeability if required.
The new partnership between Whale Tankers, located in Solihull and Ripon-based Econ Engineering will mean that vehicles which are supplied with equipment from both manufacturers will be even better integrated and optimised in terms of packaging and payload. For example, demountable systems currently supplied bearing Whale and Econ branding have separate hydraulic systems – something which can be eliminated in a fully integrated vehicle.
As part of the partnership agreement, both companies will also pool their design and engineering resources to ensure future demountable systems are developed to make best advantage of technologies being developed by the respective companies.
Speaking as the announcement was made at the CV show, Whale Tankers’ Managing Director Mark Warmington said, “This is an important move for Whale and part of an ongoing process of developing key strategic alliances with leading suppliers and manufacturers in specialist sectors, throughout Europe. Work will start immediately, with the first vehicles to benefit from this joint approach set to be completed during the summer.”
Andrew Lupton, Sales Director of Econ Engineering added, “This agreement will see two leading names in their respective fields bringing together their technology, experience and expertise for the benefit of our mutual customers and is an important step in the continuing development of the Econ brand”.
