English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 6 - 2019 | Page 23

COMPANY PORTRAIT for wind farms. By spreading the work among different customers and sectors we are much less at risk. When we buy our trailers we also look for multifunctional equipment we can use to transport construction machinery today, concrete elements tomorrow and the day after maybe a windmill turbine. Our Nooteboom trailers can be used for a wide variety of loads.” COLLABORATION WITH EUROPEAN COLLEAGUES Angel: “In virtually every European country we have a partner with whom we have worked for years. In the Netherlands we frequently join forces with companies such as Van der Vlist, Van Wieren and Van Santen. These are professional, reliable companies with good drivers and good equipment. It took years to build up this network. We are reliable and we expect the same of our European partners.” Nooteboom is the best manufacturer of low-loaders and semi low-loaders WARRANTIES Angel: “In part of Spain you are obliged to pay in a deposit for any damage that might occur en route. Those amounts can soon escalate because if, for example, I drive from Irun to Madrid we pass through three different jurisdictions. The size of the deposit can easily end up being more than € 10,000. In Galicia an amount of € 6,000 per trip is normal and we don’t like to drive through Catalonia because the regulations we are confronted with there are even more complicated. These deposits are only required for transport in the category ‘Abnormal’ with a total weight of more than 110 tonnes.” ■  CANTABRIA Angel: “Salces, the village where Transportes Cepelludo is based, is located in the Cantabrian Mountains. Across the road runs the river Ebro, which has its source three kilometres away. The 928 km long Ebro is the longest river in Spain. Its water catchment area starts in the mountains of Cantabria and continues towards the Mediterranean. The name of the river was also used as brand name for Ebro trucks, which were manufactured in Spain until the eighties. The mountain tops are over 2,500 metres high and even in summer they are covered in snow. This year Salces still had a heavy snowfall. The distance to the seaport of Santander is around 70 kilometres. For a heavy transport coming from Santander direction Salces it is a serious climb as there is a difference in altitude of nearly 1,000 metres.” WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR CEPELLUDO? Angel: “We are going to specialise further in the transport of machinery and industrial relocations. For transports in Spain that exceed a total weight of 110 tonnes you need a huge amount of experience, not only when applying for exemptions but also en route. Our drivers have years of experience and because of their expertise we can offer our customers a better quality than any transport operator from abroad. For us it is not a priority to increase our storage capacity, because our location in Salces is strategically not ideal. At the moment we are investigating which type of tractor is suitable for ultra-heavy transports. The tractor must definitely have a torque converter or perhaps we’ll go for a tractor with Turbo-Retarder-Clutch.” At Transportes Cepelludo everything emanates reliability. Perfectly maintained Volvo tractors, the latest Nooteboom trailers and – above all – extremely experienced drivers. For a transport exceeding 110 tonnes through Spain you simply cannot ignore Cepelludo. ■ Specialised transport cannot take place without specialised personnel 23