English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 5 - 2018 | Page 21

SALES & SERVICES
Trailer Service Lecluyse
Drieslaan 66
8500 Gullegem
■ 
Quick breakdown recovery far into France
SECOND FACILITY
Bruno: “Since a couple of years we have a second facility in Strépy-
Bracquegnies in Wallonia. This means we are much closer to some of
our regular customers – such as All Exeptional. Our second facility
specialises in maintenance. Major repairs and refurbishments are
done in Kortrijk. We have plenty of work in our facility in Strépy, but
it is always difficult to pass on all the practical knowledge and experi-
ence we have gained here over a period of nearly twenty years. That’s
why we prefer to carry out the major repairs and refurbishments of
complex trailers in Kortrijk.”
TVH
Lieven: “Nooteboom trailers are popular in our region. This is largely
due to TVH. TVH is the largest supplier in Belgium of access plat-
forms and forklift trucks and their head office in Waregem is only 20
kilometres away from our facility in Gullegem. TVH subcontracts a
lot of work to transport operators who mainly drive with Nooteboom
trailers and we look after the maintenance of many of them. We think
the difference in quality is most apparent when it comes to the ramps,
which for the transport of access platforms are used several times a
day. On a Nooteboom trailer the ramps function for many years with-
out any problems, while the ramps of some other makes often need an
overhaul much sooner.”
WARRANTY AND GOODWILL
Bruno: “Nooteboom sells many new trailers in our region. So oc-
casionally a customer will claim warranty for repairs. Nooteboom
always gives warranty or goodwill claims careful consideration. We
are – just like Nooteboom – of the opinion that the user must strictly
adhere to the instructions that are provided with the delivery of a
new trailer. It should not be the case that if the driver has forgotten to
tighten the bolts, Nooteboom has to pay for the repairs. When assess-
ing these warranty claims we don’t consider commercial interests but
look at the technical aspect only. In practice we nearly always agree –
based on technology – with the decisions of Nooteboom.”
TRAILER PARTS SERVICE
Lieven: “In addition to our workshops we have a separate company for
the delivery of trailer parts: Trailer Parts Service (TPS). We deliver to
trailer repair companies and transport operators throughout Belgium
■ 
Gulligem is well situated for the 90-tonnes and 120-tonnes routes
that have their own workshops. Our many years of experience stand us
in good stead when we sell parts. We are often able to give advice about
repairs over the phone or by mail and then also supply the correct parts.”
ACROSS EUROPE
Lieven: “For years we used to repair trailers at the roadside. Due to our
experience we had a growing number of customers and they asked us
to organise a breakdown service outside the region too. We now work
together with a European network of reliable companies that provide
roadside assistance. Customers will send us an email with the location
and a brief description of the problem and we will look for a partner to
carry out the repairs. If the problem cannot be solved at the roadside we
will look for a recovery service to take the truck or trailer to a workshop
or to a location specified by the customer.”
DRIVERS
Lieven: “We treat our drivers the same as we treat the transport opera-
tors who are our customers. In recent years we have seen the quality of
the drivers deteriorating. It happens that a driver takes half an hour to
position his trailer on the greasing pit. We worry about that sometimes;
the growing shortage of drivers should not lead to the easing of the
requirements drivers must meet.”
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Lieven: “In 2015 we opened our second facility in Wallonia. Recently
we also started up a bodyshop across the street. We are now going
to relocate our offices and I would like to install a paint-spray booth.
Plenty of work to be going on with, the biggest problem is finding good
mechanics.”
PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY
Bruno: “Technology is our passion. A technical problem may be ‘diffi-
cult’ for some people, but we find it interesting to try and solve it. That
is one of the reasons why our customer base grows year on year. Our
breakdown service at the roadside is available 24/7. If we are needed we
start up the service bus and try to help a customer on the way again.”
The success of Trailer Service Lecluyse is based on excellent service.
And that is the basis for the close, long-standing cooperation with
Nooteboom. ■
21