The Vinci Group, one of the largest construction firms in the world, enlists Legend to upfit their global van fleet

Founded in 1899 and now with over 1,350 companies and 116,000 employees, the Vinci Group is one of the largest construction companies in the world with expertise and reach spanning 100 countries.

Their buildings, civil projects and infrastructure work enhance life for local people in countless communities everywhere around the globe.

Steeped in a culture of builders, Vinci’s teams and engineers strive and innovate every day to assist their customers as well as the end-users.

A world leader in concessions, energy, and construction, they excel working through humanism, inventiveness, and technical resourcefulness and their customers reap the rewards for this work. A large part of this reward stems from fleets of work vans that must be on the road constantly and be durable enough to withstand daily wear and tear of the construction trade.

Large demands become apparent

Their work van cargo spaces, where their engineers spend most of their day, featured standard plywood floors. Vinci soon discovered however, that plywood does not stand up to the rigors and demands of the construction trade well at all. In fact, Vinci’s plywood floors frequently broke, cracked and absorbed chemical and oil spills causing unsafe working conditions for their work van teams. It soon became apparent that Vinci needed a viable alternative to plywood as soon as possible.

Complicating the problem, and placing restrictions on any options, was the fact that many of Vinci’s work vans had switched over to electric from internal combustion engines. This switch was necessary to meet Vinci’s environmental and sustainability targets and, as they dealt in construction, reinforce their commitment to doing their part preserving the environment.

This meant that any plywood alternative had to be equally sustainable and be custom made to install into electric fleets. Specifically, due to the large battery underneath the vans, any drilling of bolts or screws had to be completely eliminated as it would damage the battery and render the van inoperable. One more thing Vinci needed, whichever option they chose, it had to accommodate thousands of vans.

A Legendary challenge

A large part of Vinci’s global initiative, company-wide, is to significantly reduce waste in landfills. When Vinci discovered Legend Fleet Solutions of Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada, they learned Legend’s floors included a lightweight, extremely tough composite flooring called Evolve made specifically for the electric work van market. Adding to the draw, Evolve flooring was made from 75% recycled materials and fully sustainable.

After that, the value of a full Legend upfit became apparent to Vinci. Evolve was 53% lighter than a plywood floor in the same van; it meant that Vinci could increase their EV’s range on the road saving them thousands in expenses by managing effective energy consumption.

The composite flooring was dimensionally stable, impact-resistant, chemical and oil spill-resistant and most importantly, extremely easy to install without any screws or bolts! An EV-designed secure, snap-in system. As a bonus, the floor was made with a unique anti-slip surface increasing the safety of their engineers in inclement weather – an important feature when your fleets are located around the world.

Also on the list were wall and door linings. Legend was enlisted to supply these as well. A product called Econolite worked wonderfully. A lightweight, cost-efficient composite custom fit to each of their vans with added safety features such as a bright yellow color for the door linings for night work.

All of Legend’s linings and floors were easy-to-clean requiring simple wipe-downs only. Vinci was also pleased to learn that their vans, fully upfitted with Legend products, actually increased the value of their vans at lease-end.

Proudly adding thousands of Vinci engineers across the world to our exclusive Legends of the Road.

Learn how a complete upfit of your van or van fleet can benefit your bottom line.