Flying High at Farnborough 2024

And Dawsongroup, on its 50th Anniversary of asset hire, was at the forefront of the support programme for the 1500 plus exhibitors.

Dawsongroup supplied over 90 curtainside trailers, along with tractor units, 7.5t rigids and vans supporting the show’s key logistic operations.

The project called for meticulous planning terms of both the supply and delivery of the vehicles. Given the high-quality nature of the Farnborough event, every trailer had to be latest spec and in ‘showroom’ condition, similarly the trucks and vans. With such a young fleet this was a simple enough task for Dawsongroup truck and trailer, but the controlled flow of trailers into and out of the 770-acre aerodrome site was itself extremely demanding in terms of both planning and execution.

The trailers, which collectively delivered around 4,500cu m of available and manoeuverable storage space, were used for the removal and retention of all reusable packing materials from each stand, and their subsequent return after the show.

If that sounds like just kicking a few cardboard boxes around, forget it. This covered everything from cardboard, wooden, plastic and metal boxes, which ranged from the small to the very large. On top of those, however, was all the special transport packing for aircraft engines, fuselage components, whole drone assemblies, half-scale helicopter models and so on. All of which had to be securely stored during the show and brought back in the right order, to the right stands, at the right time.

A star of the show on one of the days was the use of a Dawsongroup electric tractor unit. The Volvo tractor drew admiring glances from the already very busy crowd, with a number of exhibitors keen to find out more.

Overall, it was a hugely successful project for us. As the customer said, “In the events world, we’re always on show ourselves, so want modern, clean, good-looking trailers, and I don’t know if any other supplier would have been able to meet these standards. Much less coped with our incredibly demanding timeframes. To deliver 91 trailers into the show in a matter of weeks, with supporting trucks and vans, provide consistently accurate compliance paperwork, and then get them all out again in an even shorter window, is a huge task and one Dawsongroup managed without fuss.  Our whole operation hinges almost entirely on having the things we need at the precise day/hour/minute that we need them, and Dawsongroup made that possible for us.”

Our team demonstrated that even complex projects such as Farnborough can be catered for without stress. And the same ethos surrounds everything we do, from one-off vehicles for an SME, to fleet replacements for major haulage companies. It’s all made simpler by virtue of our Smarter Asset Strategy approach that offers businesses both an in-depth financial analysis and a selection of contract hire, lease and rental packages to deliver the most cost-effective acquisition options for their needs.