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WARRANT (LIVERPOOL) J oe Bennett is a little disdainful about some
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self-styled 'logistics' companies which, he feels, use the term because it sounds more professional than 'haulage'. He wants to make the distinction clear: "We're a real logistics firm. We provide a full freight movement package without using any third parties."
Based in Liverpool's historic Rumford Court and drawing its staff from the shipping, freight forwarding and warehousing industries, Warrant Group offers road haulage as just one element (albeit a vital one) of its service. The group is also involved in importexport clearance, freight forwarding, worldwide shipping, groupage, general and bonded warehousing, ship and air chartering and specialist waste movements.
Despite its apparent links with Liverpool's heritage as a major port, Warrant Group was actually founded in 1989, by partners David Day and Jim Molloy. Both now have non-executive roles although they are, according to marketing development manager Bennett, still very much involved.
Rocont additions
Road haulage is one of the more recent additions to the Warrant portfolio, introduced with the acquisition of local haulier Bellfields six years ago. Many road transport firms have moved into warehousing and logistics in recent years as a result of poor or even non-existent margins in pure haulage work. The Warrant Group has done the reverse, adding road haulage as the last piece of the jigsaw.
"From a group point of view we had everything but road haulage," says transport manager Don Nelson. "We all have to analyse our businesses and see where we have to invest. Road haulage is in a pretty dire state at the moment, but it is a valuable part of our total business. And our haulage division does make a profit"
Warrant's road haulage busi ness comprises a fleet of fl cles including curtainsider; bed and skeletal trailers not only service the needs parent company, but also jobs for third-party clients ii
me major shipping lines.
he vehicles in the fleet are ltract hire with Volvo dealer as Hardie of Kirkby, Warrant 's this procurement method he flexibility and conve nience—it is not, after all, a major fleet operator in its own right and has no desire to own vehicles, still less service and maintain them.
"We don't want to employ fitters or have to worry about mainte nance or inspec tion," says Nelson. "Leasing the vehicles helps us to streamline our business."
Almost the entire fleet comprises Volvo FM12s, which are all less than three years old. The loads these vehicles carry reflect the main activities of the rest of the group: they include ferrous and non ferrous metals, foods, consumer goods and most containerised goods.
"We do a lot of steel imports, and all of our warehouses are London Metals Exchangeregistered," Bennett explains.
In fact Warrant Group is the largest of only a handful of companies registered to store non-ferrous metals for LME. The group has several bonded warehouses which store "everything except tobacco and alcohol", Bennett reports.
The company also imports freight from the Irish Republic; again, loads are of a specialised nature. "Our Blackstone Street warehouse is full of nappies at the moment," says Bennett. These are brought over from Ireland where they are made by a subsidiary of Hazelwood Foods and are stored for delivery to Tesco and Londis RDes.
Like every operator, Warrant Group bemoans the recent increases in vehicle excise duty and fuel prices.
"Our biggest overhead is diesel," says Nelson. "We spend about £4,500 a week on fuel and, as the haulage division does about £14,000 worth of business a week, that's a huge proportion of our transport turnover."