1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
SUCCESS STORIES
Page 43
Page 44
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Guy Sheppard talks to operators who established a foothold and went on to thrive.., so what's the secret?
Just four months after founding 3D Transport in Harlow, Essex, Richard Taylor is so ( onvinced of success that he is already planning to renew the company's entire fleet of eight vans. With so much of the haulage industry suffering from over-capacity, this might seem unusually optimistic. But Taylor says he and his two business part
ners have already turned over Li8o,000 and there is too much work to cope with.
At the moment everything is on a roll," he says, admitting that there there is no long-term strategy for the development of 3D: "It's very hard to stick to a business plan because you just don't know how the climate is going to develop."
His background has given him a base from which to build, however. Having started four years ago as an owner-driver delivering newspapers and magazines to local newsagents, his customers now include drinks distributor Cert.
He already has clear ideas about how the business should be run, saying vehicles will always be leased rather than bought: "At the end of the day, if things go wrong a van can go back and maybe I can find something else for the driver to do." Taylor's bank manager might question his lack of a business plan but many established hauliers who were originally owner-drivers like him agree that being too prescriptive about the direction he should take is pointless.
Ronnie Fry founded Switch International Trailers UK with business partner Steve Barlow 30 years ago. "You take opportunities as they present themselves and just grind away by selling the business," he says. "The degree you expand is partly down to yourself and the energy you put into the selling, and partly it is market led."
Having started with one vehicle, Swindon-based Switch now has 30 and employs more than 50 people. Most of that growth has taken place over the past io years and has been fuelled mainly by membership of the Palletways network. "Palletways' growth has been approximately 30% year-onyear which in simple terms means we are doing 30% more pallet deliveries than the year before," says Fry.
His company's expansion has always been controlled by budgets for each section of the business. Switch handles warehousing, international haulage and groupage as well as pallet distribution. Actual figures are compared with those in the budget every month; if the difference becomes too great, remedial action is taken on areas such as costs and sales.
if you run a business like that you retain the confidence of your bankers, and in haulage that is of paramount importance because they can pull the plug from under you," he points out.
For David Price. MD of Price Express Transport in Sheffield, one of the most difficult lessons to learn when making the transition from owner-driver to haulier was how to delegate.
"People never do the job quite as thoroughly or conscientiously as the guy who runs the business," he says. "But you need to give them the responsibility so they can help grow the business. I spent three years on my own before I took someone on. That initial bit of getting someone in the office is very difficult."
Price is licensed for 24 vehicles and is applying for another six. Every vehicle has a tail-lift because the company specialises in transporting commercial catering equipment such as vending machines and freezers.
Establishing a market nicht. has been extremely important for the continued success of the business, he says: "We began shifting computers when they were really big. That was why we had tail-lifts." When this marke., dried up Price concentrated on catering equipment deliveries because this was another market that required tail-lifts. "You've always got to look for something a bit different to what the cornpetition is doing," he says.
Owner-driver Alan Glover agrees. He started in 1997 when it became apparent that his family farm near Nuneaton, Warlcs. was not going to bring in sufficient income. He specialises in moving farm machinery for a manufac
turer based in a nearby village— this accounts for nearly twothirds of his work.
"I have a low-loader trailer and move all their machinery about for them and do their demonstration work as well," he explains. "You have to be specialised in something because then you can name your price. It is extremely difficult to start up—I was lucky and just dropped on this farm machinery work."
Glover says prospective ownerdrivers should ensure they have at least po,000 handy to meet initial trading expenses: "Most people are on 9o-days pay-in, so by the time you've paid your tax, insurance, finance on the truck and your fuel bill it is going to knock a big hole in Li o,000."
He advises newcomers to be wary of anybody who rings up out of the blue offering work: "I always ask myself what happened to the people who were working for these people before. Have they retired, packed in haulage or just not been paid? I always do a bit of research on them." For established hauliers loo ing to expand, recruiting ar retaining the necessary drivers do so is one area where thei seems to be no obvious solutioi
David Hewitt, operations dire tor of Great Yarmouth-base Spandler Brothers, joined th company in 1993 with a brief 1 expand its customer base. Th business then had 12 trucks con pared with 45 today. Over the pa: 18 months he has recruited drivers from a local training cet tre and only three have stayed.
The problem is even mor acute for Brian Hill Haulage i Plant Hire in the Black Countr Its fleet has tripled in size t nearly So trucks over the past tw years after winning a contract o, the new MG toll road. Hill's tram port manager, Martyn Whilej also taps into a local training cer tre for recruits, but warm "People come and drive for a for night and then clear off. Th. biggest problem is that the rate are poor and therefore wages an not up to scratch. But that' always been haulage."