The delivery vehicle fleet of chick distributors Tom Barron ISA has been expanded to serve both ends of the market - for very large and small orders.
A 70,000 capacity vehicle, thought to be the largest serving the egg laying industry, will be based at the firm's Catforth hatchery, near Preston, and will deliver the biggest orders to both the UK and Ireland. The vehicle, including a sleeper cab for use on long hauls, is fitted with the latest temperature and humidity controls, standby generator, self-levelling airbags and satellite navigation.
The smaller vehicle, with an 8000 capacity, also has full environment controls for the chick compartment which is separate from the driver's cab. Based at the Eye hatchery near Peterborough, it is aimed primarily at free range producers who tend to have smaller flocks.
"The new additions to our fleet will give us the flexibility to delivery orders of all sizes more efficiently," says Mike Haines, commercial operations director of Tom Barron ISA, distributors of ISA egg layers in the UK and Ireland. "With our wide range of breeds, we need to be able to provide for the increasing demand for larger individual orders as well as look after the free range sector."