A good old name in west country transport is about
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to disappear. I hear that Derek Good is winding up Pioneer Transport at Bear in Devon and transferring the haulage fleet to his garage company. It always seems a pity when these things happen, but, I suppose, it's a sign of the times when rationalisation rather than diversification is the order of the day. The important thing is that Derek will still be around.
Why important, you ask? Simple — we need good men. Have you heard the Roy Bowles story?
About seven years ago, Roy had one of the most successful air freight businesses in
Europe. He sold it to the Lex Group and worked under contract to the group for about five years. Two years ago, having honoured his contract, Roy "got out" of transport, but old habits die hard. A few .months ago he could no longer control the urge. With his son he bought three 30 cwt vans and started up again on the
condition that if the business wasn't paying in 18 months, they would get out.
Today the new Bowles fleet has 114 vehicles and, appropriately enough for an air freight company, it's going up. Not bad for a man whose dad was a greengrocer and who began his own transport career running passengers and envelopes in his own car to Heathrow. There's still plenty o room for the entrepreneur.