Rubber firm bounces back for another Canter
So impressed was Rubber Manufacturing Services with its first 3.5-tonne Mitsubishi Fuso Canter that when the time finally came to replace it there was only one place the Cheshire firm was going to go – back to local dealer Enza for another Canter.
Based in Elworth, near Sandbach, Cheshire, Rubber Manufacturing Services is a family-owned business specialising in the fabrication, supply and wholesale of a huge variety of rubber products for use in the agricultural, equestrian, industrial, canine, leisure and other sectors.
Its latest truck is a long-wheelbase Canter 3C15 and fitted with an aluminium dropside body by Boalloy Fastruck, of Congleton. Strikingly finished in metallic silver overlaid with high-visibility decals, the vehicle also came with optional air-conditioning and reversing sensors, and is now being used to deliver products to customers throughout the north and midlands.
Key to the Canter’s appeal is its high-strength ladder-frame chassis. “Most 3.5-tonners are van-based and not really rugged enough for what we need, but the Mitsubishi is a proper little truck,” explains Director Scott Raybould, whose father Eric founded the business in 1973 and is still heavily involved.
“We do a lot of equine rubber matting and flooring for stables and horse boxes, which means the truck often has to go onto farmyards, fields and rough tracks. But experience has proved that the Canter is well able to take the punishment.”
Rubber Manufacturing Services ran its previous Mitsubishi Fuso truck for four years. “Not once did it let us down and we’re confident the new Canter will prove equally reliable,” continues Mr Raybould, whose sister Lianne Clayton-Barker also works for the firm.
“Our one niggle about the last truck was that the gearbox was a bit ‘notchy’ but this new one is a lot better, while the fact that the lever has been repositioned and is now on the dash is also an improvement. The cab is roomier and better-appointed, and the wing mirrors are a lot better too; they were a bit flimsy on the old model.”
He adds: “The Canter gives us a competitive 1.5-tonne payload which it carries with ease, while the fact that we’ve gone for the long wheelbase means we’ve been able to fit a 13ft body on which we can carry two pallets of mats, each of which is six feet long, end to end.”
Supplying dealer Enza is best known as a Mercedes-Benz agent but, like others in the German manufacturer’s UK franchised network, is also responsible for sales and support of the popular Mitsubishi Fuso light truck range.
Rubber Manufacturing Services sold its previous Canter with ease, to a business associate. “We’d lined up the deal well in advance,” says Mr Raybould. “He knew the truck had been well looked and was keen to take it off us.”
Cantering ahead…that’s Scott Raybould and father Eric