Laddaw, the wholesale and distribution arm of vehicle glass repair and replacement company Autoglass, has taken on 17 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 314 CDIs.

It operates from a head office and distribution centre in Coalville, Leicestershire, as well as 20 branches nationwide.

Laddaw's main facility houses the UK’s widest range of automotive glass and related accessories; every day, some 15,000 products are handled across its network.

It supplies the general trade as well as serving Autoglass – both are part of the Belron Group.

The 17 Sprinters were supplied by Intercounty Truck & Van. The dealer also delivered 24 Sprinters last year.

Like all of those commissioned last year, the latest 3.5-tonne Sprinters at Laddaw have replaced older examples.

The company runs a fleet of approximately 80 Sprinters, which are the subject of three-year lease agreements with a third-party provider. By the end of this period each will typically have covered 125,000 miles.

The Long-bodied vans are fitted with customised racking systems which are exceptionally light, allowing the operator to maximise payloads. They carry front and rear windscreens and body glass for a huge range of vehicles, as well as adhesives and other ancillaries.

Melvin Rolling, head of facilities for Autoglass and Laddaw, said: “We used to run the medium-length Sprinter and retain a handful of these, but business growth prompted a switch to the long variant.

“It is the ideal size for our distribution operation, which includes making night-time deliveries to ‘stock locations’.