Delivery firm City Link has beefed up its fleet at its Southampton depot by adding 56 new trucks to cope with the Christmas rush.

Resplendent in City Link’s distinctive green and yellow livery, the new vehicles have been drafted in as online shopping is expected to beat all records this year.

Spokesman Tim Brown said: “Maintaining our service levels throughout the peak period is at the top of our agenda. “We recognise, however, that if we are to achieve this it is essential that we ensure that we have the right tools for the job.

“Over the past few months we have developed a robust plan and are making a substantial investment in manpower, vehicles and additional sites to ensure that we are ready to deal with the level of increased volumes we are expecting this Christmas.”

The vehicles have been supplied by Fraikin, one of the UK’s leading fleet management, contract hire and rental specialists. Fraikin will also maintain the vehicles along with the remainder of City Link’s 500 strong tractor and trailer fleet under the existing arrangement between the two organisations.

The new Renault 430 Premium 4x2 tractor units are all Euro 5 compliant and have been fitted with Fraikin Vision, a state-of-the-art telematics system that provides detailed analysis to enhance fleet performance. They will also deliver savings in fuel consumption and reduce the fleet’s carbon footprint. All of the vehicles are replacements for City Link’s existing fleet, although under the terms of the agreement City Link will retain its existing vehicles so as to maximise fleet availability over the peak period.