When James Dennison, md of Dennison Trailers, dropped in on Telford building block manufacturers Besblock, little did he know he would come away with an order for a bespoke trailer.James was visiting a customer nearby and decided to pay a visit to Besblock on the off chance to see if they needed any new trailers. By coincidence the company was looking for an additional block carrier and thought James had called to discuss their requirements!The result was an order for a tailor-made, rear steer, tri-axle trailer, designed to meet Besblock’s specific needs.

“We thought James was responding to our enquiry,” says Besblock Director Andrew Huxley. “We had called a number of trailer makers but none seemed interested. One even told us it wasn’t worth their while to design and build a one off for us! James however listened to us and promised to come up with a trailer which would fit the bill, so we placed the order there and then.”

That decision has proved to be a winner for Besblock, as the new trailer allows the company to carry an extra pack of 90 blocks per load. And when you are making and delivering 60,000 blocks a day this extra payload gain is very important.Despite carrying 20 packs of blocks each weighing around 1.4 tonnes, compared with 19 on a normal block trailer, and being fitted with a crane, the new Dennison still has a quarter tonne of spare capacity. Besblock’s plant and equipment manager, Toby Johnson, is delighted with the newcomer, as is driver John Lote.

“We operate six eight wheelers and six tractor units with five block carrier and four tipping semi-trailers,” says Toby. “The new trailer not only carries more, it can get into places which the eight leggers often struggle to access. The Dennison with its twin Tridec steer system fitted to the rear two axles, along with its front lifting axle, dramatically improves maneuverability” John Lote agrees: “I often arrive on site to be told “you won’t get that in there, but the Dennison set-up makes short shrift of virtually every situation.”

Besblock, which was founded in 1972 by Andrew’s father John, has gone from strength to strength and now has two manufacturing sites on the Heslop Halesfield Industrial Estate near Telford. These plants between them produce a staggering 20 million blocks each year which have to be distributed throughout the Midlands, the South and parts of London.

To maintain its punishing delivery schedule, Besblock naturally relies on its vehicles and the new Dennison is more than proving its worth.“We have had no problems whatsoever with the trailer,” says Andrew Huxley.

“It does all and more that we demand from it and is proving to be totally reliable. We monitor fuel consumption as part of the Volvo Dynafleet programme and although it is early days yet, we believe the Volvo FH 480 tractor unit/Dennison combination is achieving better results already.”

The Volvo and ERF tractor units in the Besblock fleet, along with their trailers, clock up around 100,000 miles a year, and often have to contend with some tough terrain on site. The new Dennison block carrier takes it all in its stride and is proving to be an excellent investment, all thanks to a chance meeting!