HARSH FACT: TOP SPECS PAY WETHERBY SKIPS LONG TERM DIVIDENDS

22 June 2023

HARSH FACT: TOP SPECS REALLY DO PAY WETHERBY SKIPS LONG TERM DIVIDENDS

“Time and again we’ve seen that buying top-spec skiploaders really can give us long term dividends” says Mark Kent, owner of thriving waste management business Wetherby Skip Services Ltd.

Now running a fleet of over 30 skiploaders and hookloaders, the company has just taken of another two vehicles into its highly distinctive and well turned – out fleet, a pair of Scania P cab XT 18 tonners, each fitted with HARSH HS14 skiploader bodywork.

“We had our first HARSH skips 15 years ago, and have been really impressed with their durability and reliability” Mark notes, adding that “waste work is hardly the most gentle of truck applications so we need chassis and bodywork that really can go the distance. Typically we’ll keep our trucks for five years, then sell them on. We’ve found that residual values for a HARSH skiploader on a premium chassis will always give us a best possible return. In terms of overall cost of ownership, that’s a significant factor.”

With a highly successful 20 – plus years track record, Wetherby Skip Services now operates from its HQ outside the town with additional sites in Leeds, York, Harrogate, Tadcaster and Castleford. As well as skip hire, the company is also active in site clearance, disposal of hazardous waste and the supply of crushed and recycled stone as well as screened topsoil.

“The trucks work hard and we expect a lot from them” adds Mark, “so day-in, day-out reliability and durability are absolutely paramount. In skip work, it’s the bodywork that takes the real beating which, in turn, shows that the HARSH units are really up to the job.”

As one of the earliest users of HARSH skiploaders, Wetherby Skip Services has built up an almost unrivalled long term experience of working with these units. Over the years, continual improvements have been made in their materials, construction techniques and specifications, with the latest 2023 HARSH models representing a true ‘state of the art’ design. One of the most significant advances has been the introduction of electronic remote control, operated by the driver by a ‘TV Remote’- sized handset.

“Remote control allows the driver to stand anywhere around the truck whilst skips are being loaded or unloaded” says HARSH Managing Director Adam Hargreaves, “in turn this means a massive improvement in operating safety, not least to third parties. An early proponent of this technology, HARSH now offers this feature as standard equipment, whilst still including the traditional bodyside  lever systems for back-up if ever needed.”

Wetherby’s two new trucks will be working out of the company’s HQ site at Walton, itself undergoing a three year development programme that will further enhance the range and scale of its operations.

“It’s all about the future” says Mark Kent, “and in that context our Scania / HARSH skiploaders have proven themselves to be easily the best in the long run.”