Four of the new armoured trucks acquired by Guardsman. - Contributed

Guardsman Armoured Limited, a subsidiary of the Caribbean's largest security service provider, has expanded its fleet of armoured trucks to 75, having acquired 16 new vehicles this year.

The new acqusitions represent an investment of at least US$1.2 million (J$81.5 million). It follows last year's US$600,000 (J$40.5 million) spend by the security company, which added eight cash in transit (CIT) trucks to the fleet, bringing the total to 24 units purchased since last year.

Of the current 16, three-quarters, or 12 units, are CITs, while the other four are automated teller machine specific (ATMs).

General manager for Guardsman Armoured, Renée Menzies-McCallum, declined to say how the company was financing the purchases.

"We've purchased so far 12 cash in transit vehicles at US$75,000 ($4.98 million) each - which amounts to about US$900,000 (J$60.75 million) in total," she told the Financial Gleaner.

"The next four trucks to come in next month are ATM (automated machine specific)."

Once all the deliveries are in, Guardsman would have added 12 each of the CIT and ATM trucks.

Menzies-McCallum said the company is improving the fleet for two reasons - security and cost efficiency.

Fuel-efficient trucks

"We don't want trucks to be breaking down," said Menzies-McCallum. "New trucks will be more fuel efficient so it will help us not to pass on the cost to the client because if the vehicles are not fuel efficient, the cost of the service goes up when gas goes up," she said.

Guardsman managing director Craig Morrison, said the fleet has now been converted to 70 per cent diesel-powered, which means cheaper fuel costs.

Guardsman Armoured Limited, a 42-year-old company, has been serving Jamaica since 1965 as an all-island courier service. It provides cash security services through cash-in-transit, ATM management services, cash processing, deposit processing, data clearings, payroll packaging, offsite data storage as well as international air courier transport to a wide range of clients in five branch offices island-wide including branches in Kingston, Montego Bay, Mandeville, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio.

The company services a network of ATMs on behalf of several banks.

Menzies-McCallum reluctantly acknowledged that the company was profiting from the heavy crime, saying Guardsman's clientele has been growing as more firms seek out its services.

The majority of its fleet is now under five years old.

"Our previous purchase of 12 new diesel CIT trucks brought us to a point where approximately 65 per cent of our existing fleet is under four years old," said Menzies-McCallum, adding that the company was unlikely to be able to take that target to 100 per cent.

But four of the 12 additional ATM-specific trucks due to arrive in the island next month, should up this percentage to 75 per cent of the fleet being under four years old, she added.

Menzies-McCallum also told the Financial Gleaner that the company would either be recommissioning the older trucks or using them for spare parts instead of selling or leasing them to competitors.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com