PROFILE HAIG
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• Ray Dorney is not your average operator. Somebody he has never met plans his vehicle routes; his drivers choose their own trucks; and he is the only man in Britain to run a bonneted Scania T113.
Even the way Dorney snapped up this experimental vehicle was unusual. After reading about the T113 in Commercial Motor he decided he just had to have it — so he phoned Scania and bought the vehicle without even seeing it.
Scania has borrowed Dorney's vehicle to display at this year's Tipcon. The Swedish manufacturer undoubtedly wants to give the vehicle maximum exposure — but it has yet to decide whether to launch the model fully onto the UK market.
It was brought into this country last year for the Birmingham Motor Show. Scania said it would consider offering the 260kW (354hp) model if more than 100 hauliers expressed a strong interest.
But today it is still studying its viability.
If the decision is made to go ahead with the T113 Scania will be selling the first bonneted trucks in the UK for more than two decades. c....veral other truck builders, including Volvo and Renault, still manufacture such vehicles for sale on the Continent.
Although there is a loss of load length with bonneted vehicles, Scania insists that the T113, powered by the same 11-litre engine and GR871 gearbox as the current right-hand-drive R113 forward-control tractor, could be popular with tipper and tanker hauliers who run shorter trailers. Dorney's firm Haig, for instance, concentrates on bulk haulage work.
Dorney is not involved in the day-to-day running of his four vehicles; the loads and their destinations are all arranged for him through All Goods of Hornchurch, Essex.
This system works well for Dorney. All Goods invoices Haig once a month for taking on the hassle of the transport operation. This leaves Dorney free to pursue his other business interests — and there are plenty of them.
Dorney previously specialised in European haulage, but in the past few years he has confined his transport operation to the UK and bulk haulage, which he believes offers steady and regular work.
"The rates might not be so good, but the vehicles are almost always loaded," he says.
Another unusual aspect of the Haig operation is the strong influence the drivers have over the whole operation. The four drivers are always allowed to choose the vehicle they want when a truck replacement is planned. Dorney says he does not mind purchasing top-ofthe-range new trucks, as long as he gets them at "the right price". He sees himself as a dealer, first and foremost.
One of the reasons Dorney bought the Scania T113 was to please his Blackpool-based driver, Peter Marriott. Years ago, when Dorney and Marriott transported loads to Europe together, Marriott would constantly point out bonneted trucks. He loved the idea of bigger, roomy cabs.
"When I told Peter I had bought the Scania he could not believe it," says Dorney. "But he was not surprised, he thinks I am eccentric."
Haig's four drivers are the only ones allowed to drive the company's trucks; when one of them goes on holiday his vehicle is parked up until he returns. To many operators this will sound like lunacy, but Dorney argues that this policy makes strong economic sense.
"I do this for sound economic reasons, not because I am extravagant. Ill let somebody else drive the vehicle they could cause serious damage. The insurance is also phenomenal. Too many hauliers let people loose in very expensive vehicles," he says.
Dorney realises that such company policies are a luxury allowed only to small firms. This is also true of his limited involvement with Haig's transport operations. He intends to keep his fleet down to four vehicles to tie his road transport company in with his other business interests.
But he insists that he will never pull out of haulage completely. His transport experience goes back years and he is adamant that he will always hold an Operator's Licence. "That is something I have worked for throughout these years," he explains.
Many may say that the way he runs his transport firm is unrealistic. But Domey believes that he has found a successful formula which keeps both him and his drivers happy.
"Many people want lots and lots of vehicles dashing around the country, but that way you never have any time to spend the money you have earned," he says.
"It is too late when you retire. I know lots of people who have retired, but their only interest has been their working life. And when they stop working their life becomes very, very dull," 0 by Tanya Cordrey