“The kinds of systems we have from Sentinel are the ones you never want to think about, you just want them to work. With our whole fleet now protected, I can certainly say they’ve brought Cotteswold Dairy real peace of mind.”
Ruairi Spencer, Fleet Logistics Manager, Cotteswold Dairy
About Cotteswold Dairy
Established in 1938 by Harry Workman, Cotteswold Dairy began as a humble 30-gallon milk round. Over the decades, it has flourished into one of the UK's largest independent, family-owned dairies, processing and distributing over 100 million litres of milk annually. With its main production site in Tewkesbury and additional depots in Cheltenham, Shropshire, North Wales, and Herefordshire, the company remains committed to its founding principles of quality, service, and cleanliness.
The Partnership
The Cotteswold Dairy fleet is over 180 vehicles strong with a balanced mix of HGVs and 3.5-tonne trucks, and that fleet goes up and down all the major routes you’d expect, including a large presence in London. The London area in particular requires DVS compliance for all HGVs, and therefore, kitting out every large vehicle they had was a big part of kicking things off. Rather than install the kit on just a few vehicles and then risk spikes in demand in that area, Cotteswold Dairy invested in having the system available on as many vehicles as possible to make their own logistics operation more flexible.
For all the other vehicles, it was really important that Cotteswold Dairy had peace of mind when it came to any potential insurance incidents. While they have a great track record of fleet safety, a nationwide rise in false claims or incidents with disputed liability prompted them to get the best protection they could. That meant fitting forward-facing cameras that clearly record the vision of the driver and give a perfect record of events, not just for insurance purposes but also for internal training.
Perfectly Aligned
Working closely with Ruairi and Cotteswold Dairy, it was clear their biggest concern for the systems would be their robustness. Big vehicles, running day in and day out to London and in the North, take a real beating from the roads and weather conditions. Thankfully, we’ve got a proven track record of fitting kit that’s built to last for UK fleets, and that’s been proven again here by Cotteswold's commitment to the system going forward. As they have new vehicles roll into the fleet, they’re already specified with Sentinel kits, which, as far as we’re concerned, is a glowing recommendation for the quality of our work, service, and equipment.
For fleet operators looking to add more security to their fleet and improve their compliance with safety standards, Sentinel Systems is the go-to provider of commercial vehicle safety equipment. Our work with Cotteswold Dairy is another great example of our ability to work closely with industry leaders, focus on their needs, and then deliver.
