The order comprises a variety of vehicle types, including 45 specialist low-height DAF 26-tonne 6x2 ‘XD’ 340 day cab chassis with rear steer axles. Each rigid body is engineered for heavy-duty brewery operations, featuring interlaced baseframes that deliver an ultra-low floor height — ideal for efficient side loading of kegs. A full suite of brewery-specific ancillaries is mounted between and behind the wheelbase.
All rigid bodies are EN 12642-XL certified for load containment and several are equipped with Dhollandia cantilever and tuckaway tail lifts. The builds have also been adapted to suit the specific loading dock configurations at Greene King’s new flagship distribution centre in Bury St Edmunds.
The remainder of the order includes 18-tonne and 16-tonne DAF XB rigids, 7.5-tonne Isuzu chassis, and four 13.6-metre curtainsided semi-trailers. All rigid vehicles are fitted with Parksafe camera systems as standard.
Vehicle branding was delivered by Sapphire Graphics — part of the Don-Bur Group — who visualised Greene King’s supplied brand concepts and applied full livery packages across cabs and bodies. This included EN 12642-XL rated UV-printed curtains, cab livery and internal cargo control. A total of seven distinct designs were created, incorporating fresh branding for Hazy Day and Level Head, alongside updated visuals for established brands such as IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, and Belhaven favourites Black and Best.
All paintwork was carried out in-house, reinforcing Don-Bur’s position as a true one-stop-shop for vehicle body manufacturing and branding.
The new fleet will operate from Greene King’s key distribution hubs in Bury St Edmunds, Abingdon, and Eastwood (Nottinghamshire), and has been supplied on six-year contract hire terms through Close Brothers Vehicle Hire and TIP Group.
A Greene King spokesperson commented:
We’ve developed our highly bespoke brewery vehicle specification over many years in close partnership with Don-Bur, DAF, and our contract hire providers. Their shared experience and sector knowledge have been instrumental in delivering a fleet tailored to our unique operational needs.”