Fit Out Exceptionnel

Monday 20th May 2019

Coventry based specialist haulage company Steve Frowen Transport has taken delivery of its latest continental wide load escort vehicle. The special 40th-anniversary edition of the IVECO Daily has been supplied by Guest Motors and fitted out to meet French Convoi Exceptionnel regulations by Vehicle Lining Services (VLS).

Escort vehicles are required in France to accompany large loads to protect and warn other road users of an approaching convoy. Depending on the category of the load, they often have to work in pairs and in conjunction with local police. 

Sales manager at VLS Matt Holland said: “The special edition Daily is really nicely equipped and made a great platform to create the vehicle that Steve Frowen Transport needed. 

“The vehicle has been wrapped in yellow vinyl and had warning lights fitted to comply with regulations. Inside, it’s going to be used as a sleeper, so we’ve fitted it out with a side window in the load space door, night heating, cooking facilities and a separate leisure power system to make it as comfortable as possible.” 

Steve Frowen Transport specialises in transporting bulky jet engines between the UK and France and with some individual loads being worth upwards of £30m. Steve Frowen began the company 12 years ago with a single flatbed truck. He said: “Large load transport in France is very specialist. The French part of the journey must have the load accompanied by a qualified French-speaking ‘pilote’. 

“When we began, we would sub-contract to a local company in France, but often the pilot wouldn’t have enough English to communicate effectively with our drivers. To solve that problem, we hired our own English, French-speaking specialist to manage the trips. It also meant travelling the whole journey along with our trucks. The trucks have sleeper cabs so we needed sleeping accommodation in the escort vehicle too. 

“This is our second Daily support vehicle - the first has received the thumbs-up from the drivers, so it made sense to buy another one.” 

Birmingham based Vehicle Lining Services provides full fit out for commercial vehicles, from basic van ply lining to FORS compliance packages for trucks and bespoke packages like the Convoi Exceptionnel Daily.