Here’s one company that clearly won’t be pushing a piano out of a 16th floor window. Why? Because they’d rather be carrying it on their brand new Mercedes Actros drawbar, that’s why. Indeed, Biglorryblog can reveal that the ‘they’ in question is none other than Butler Piano Movers, one of the UK’s leading piano distribution specialists. It has just taken delivery of a Euro-4 Actros 1836 drawbar complete with a twin-bunk ‘Long Distance’ sleeper cab on the prime mover as all Butler deliveries are undertaken by a two-man team of driver and porter.
The whole shebang is clearly up for the job as the RSG drawbar trailer (which is also bodied by Transport Enterprises) has its very own Eberspacher heating system which guards against fluctuations in temperature that can be so damaging to pianos. Plunk! Plink! Bowoing! And roller shutter doors at both ends of the trailer and the prime mover provide for ‘walk-through’ loading and unloading with the truck’s tail-lift doubling as a ‘bridge’ between the two units.
The £89,000 rig is plated at a relatively modest gross train weight of 28- tonnes. “People think of pianos as very heavy and certainly the grands can tip the scales at anything up to 400kg,” managing director Steve Butler tells BLB. “But you have to bear in mind that we’re pulling a lot of fresh air, both inside the instruments, and between and above them.”
The 17.6 metre-long drawbar combination can carry up to 36 pianos (16 on the truck and 20 on the trailer) and is also better suited to tight deliveries than a conventional artic. Meanwhile, Steve Butler was originally running a company that transported fine arts and furniture to and from Jersey and Guernsey, when the chance to service a new, niche market presented itself.
“We started moving the occasional piano and very quickly earned a name for ourselves,” he recalls. “Pianos are very delicate and expensive instruments requiring special handling. As word got round, the demand from retailers and owners grew steadily until, six years ago, we took the plunge and formed Butler Piano Movers.”
Steve’s wife Penny and father Mike are also directors of the company which has been a success from day one. One of only three piano distribution specialists in Britain, it now transports up to 200 pianos every week (some worth as much as £80,000 apiece), and numbers all three of the UK’s major wholesalers among its customers. It’s customers also benefit from the peace of mind of knowing that while in transit their instrument is also covered by an ‘all risks’ insurance policy. Well let’s face it the last thing they’d want is for one of their precious pianos to fall off the back of a lorry now would they?
Finally I have a caption for the above picture. Penny: 'Here, Steve do you know the piano's on my foot?' Steve: 'No Penny, but if you hum it, I'll play it...' Ithankyew....
You've been watching too many tea-bag adverts.