Mercedes-Benz Vans is gearing up for winter – and aiming to make sure the people who drive its vehicles are ready for the tougher conditions via its newly launched “Winter means business” campaign.
For starters, anyone who runs a Sprinter, Vito or Citan can pop into their local approved Mercedes dealer and ask for a free Visual Health Check (for their van – you’d best try the NHS for any other complaints). Meanwhile a free-to-download Driver Safety Guide offers advice on dealing with the challenges of driving at this time of year; useful no matter what kind of van you’re in.
On top of this, a third of the Mercedes-Benz Vans dealer network will be open 24 hours a day during the winter period, with the rest open longer and over weekends. Then there’s Mercedes’ MobiloVan breakdown fleet that gives free roadside assistance to customers, typically with a response time of less than 60 minutes. It’s an impressive showing.
What’s so significant about winter?
Aside from the prospect of trickier driving conditions – which we’ll come to in a moment – winter is an extremely busy period for deliveries. Especially given the ever-increasing amount of online shopping that takes place at this time of year; these goods don’t go to a hub or store but to individual addresses, massively increasing the mileage covered by delivery drivers and their vans.
Mercedes is the major player in this “courier and express parcel” (CEP) industry, estimating that some 250,000 vehicles carrying its maker’s mark will be on the road over the so-called Black Friday weekend 25-28 November, for example.
With shoppers expecting prompt and timely deliveries as a matter of course these days, reliability – and, by extension, repair service – has never been more important.
Mercedes Driver Safety Guide
The Mercedes Vans Driver Safety Guide is a free download, which you can access here; it is specifically targeted at van driver safety in winter.
While car drivers can re-arrange journeys if the weather turns nasty, van drivers often feel obliged to carry on regardless – customers don’t like to be kept waiting, after all. This short document is packed with useful advice, and will even help you keep on the right side of the law.
For example, did you know that you can be fined by the police for failing to clear the snow from the roof of your vehicle, not just the windows, mirrors and number plates?
Other handy hints include wiping your feet every time you get in the cab to prevent your shoes slipping on the pedals, advice on driving in not just snow and ice but also fog and flood water, plus a checklist of useful things to carry with you. This includes less obvious items such as sunglasses to protect you for the glare of the low-lying winter sun.
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