Since 2006, all of our commercial vehicles at QMS have been named by members of the team either directly or through online competitions and in 2014, “Doris” was introduced to the fleet.

Doris is a 16 tonne Thermoplastic Screed truck, bespoke built onto a DAF chassis to our own specification by Somerford Equipment and as she had been well used over the past eight years, she was looking a little tired. We thought it was time that she went for a spa break, have a nip n' tuck and possibly an injection of Botox here and there and where better to send her, then back to her maker.

Somerford Equipment build trucks to last. Look after them and that is exactly what they do! In true style of prevention rather than cure, Doris was sent on her eight week “spa break” back to Somerford. After a full shot blast back to steel, panel repairs & replacements off she went for her spray tan!

On completion, she looked like a new truck. It was difficult to imagine that she had already delivered eight hard years of various line marking projects and travelled thousands of miles throughout the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, but here she was looking more glamorous than ever!

After her return to our depot, she was measured up for her bespoke made-to-measure outfit from local vehicle graphic supplier and installer, Bayside Graphics and finished with a full detailed valet within the cab by local company Platinum Detailing to finish her luxury spa experience.

As part of her makeover, she also had a funky modification within the mould heater compartment adding further segregation and warning to passing pedestrians. This was borne from a discussion amongst our operational team when Crew Supervisor, Scott Hicks suggested a retractable sign that could fold out from the side when lowered. After a few discussions with Mike Oakes at Somerford Equipment, the design was presented, agreed and fabricated.

Krzys Stadnik, Crew Supervisor on Doris said, “These drop down flags are excellent, they really make a difference on site. You would be amazed how many members of the public get close to the truck, even with all of the warning signs. These flags really are superb!”

Due to the success of the modification on Doris, we are soon to have all our similar vehicles modified with the same design.

Our thanks goes out to the team at Somerford Equipment, Bayside Graphics and Platinum Detailing for giving Doris a truly fantastic makeover, we look forward to seeing her and her crew continuing to deliver outstanding work to our portfolio of amazing clients well into the future.