ESTABLISHED IN 2005, LOCKERBIE BASED, FINNIE HEAVY HAULAGE DOESN’T CLAIM TO BE THE LARGEST SPECIALIST TRANSPORT FLEET IN SCOTLAND, BUT IT’S ACROSS-THE-BOARD QUALITY STANDARDS AND SHEER BREADTH OF OPERATION ARE UNRIVALLED. HEAVYTORQUE HEADED FOR THE COMPANY’S DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY HEADQUARTERS.
Satellite tracking systems are an operational essential these days and I for one have become used to entering a traffic office and giving the attendant display screen a cursory glance. With most fleets, there’s usually a procession of icons up and down the main arterial motorways, with the occasional truck out in the country. However, Finnie Heavy Haulage was an entirely different matter, as its current fleet of seven tractor units was spread over the widest geographical area that I’d ever witnessed. In the Outer Hebrides, an icon on the island of North Uist was steadily moving away from a ferry, while in Holland another icon was making good progress towards last January’s Broshuis event in Kampen. What’s unusual about that I hear you say? Well much further south was a Finnie Heavy Haulage truck working in Casablanca, North Africa! My surprise exclamation brings a wry smile to director Alan Finnie’s face.
COLLETT AND SONS, ONE OF GREAT BRITAIN’S MOST RESPECTED SPECIALIST TRANSPORT COMPANIES, HAS FOLLOWED A PATH OF STEADY EXPANSION OVER MANY DECADES AND IS STILL INVESTING IN MODERN EQUIPMENT, FACILITIES AND THE FUTURE. HEAVYTORQUE CHARTS THE REMARKABLE PROGRESS OF THIS FAMILY ENTERPRISE.
With its head office in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and depots at Goole and Grangemouth, Collett Heavy Transport is in the premier league of UK specialist heavy transport operators. Offering a wide range of integrated services that encompass almost every aspect of this sector, the operation is still very much a family concern with the fourth generation actively involved in the operation.
The company was started in 1928 by Richard Collett, transporting his own and other farmer’s milk to local dairies, using a horse and cart and based on his farm at Sutton near Keighley. In 1933 the milk haulage operation was expanded with the acquisition of the first commercial vehicle. In the early 60’s his son, Richard 2, moved to a farm near Wainstalls, Halifax. Soon after a partnership was formed with his father, creating Richard Collett and Son. Over the years the business expanded and moved into general haulage and heavy transport.
Issue Eleven: with 196 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
THERE’S BEEN A GREAT DEAL HAPPENING AT FAYMONVILLE IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS. IT RECENTLY GRABBED THE HEADLINES WITH THE ACQUISITION OF THE LONG ESTABLISHED AND MUCH RESPECTED ITALIAN TRAILER BUILDER COMETTO, WHOSE HEAVYWEIGHT MODULAR AND SELF PROPELLED RANGE HAS A WORLDWIDE FOLLOWING. HEAVYTORQUE VISITED THE COMPANY’S HEADQUARTERS TO HEAR ABOUT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.
The acquisition of Cometto extends Faymonville’s range of products and increases the size of the operation, propelling the company to the top of the first division of specialist trailer manufacturers worldwide. Cometto has faded somewhat in the UK market in recent years, but has had a presence dating back to the early 70’s, when the old Crane Fruehauf organisation was the agent in this market. The advanced modular designs took over from the old Crane heavy range which had reached the limit of its capability. The organisation sold quite a number of heavy-duty Cometto axle lines and one or two girder bridge systems to some prominent hauliers, along with a number of lighter trailers. Later, Cometto took the UK operation back in-house and sold a wide range of trailers to numerous operators.
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY BASED, WMB HEAVY HAULAGE IS PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF TRUCK CRANE TECHNOLOGY WITH 21ST CENTURY ENGINEERING IDEAS. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
Safe lifting standards are a crucial part of operations involving any type of crane. This top priority must be revisited time and again, not just at every individual job, but when developing technologies bring new products to the marketplace. The theory and practice of safe lifting is continually embraced by innovators in the heavy transport and lifting industry, and that includes Jon Smail, co-founder of WMB Heavy Haulage. In addition to building what is probably Scotland’s largest capacity eight-wheeled rigid crane truck, Smail and partner Murray Brown have also become sole UK agents for Finnish made Aluexbeams spreader bars. Aluexbeams are the brainchild of Finnish crane operator, Patrik Sundström who has created three separate lifting beams with capacities of five, 10 and 10-tonnes plus. These aluminium devices are designed to be handled by one man. The five-tonne model tips the scales at 35kg, while the 10 and 10-tonne plus bars weigh in at 45kg.
Issue Eleven: with 196 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
AR DEMOLITION IS A FORWARD LOOKING COMPANY, WITH BASES IN LEICESTERSHIRE AND WARWICKSHIRE. IT OPERATES A MODERN FLEET OF VERY WELL PRESENTED EQUIPMENT UNDERTAKING A WIDE RANGE OF DEMOLITION AND REMEDIATION PROJECTS THROUGHOUT THE UK. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
The business of demolishing buildings, bridges, industrial plant and scores of other structures has come a long way in recent years. The old image of a 22 RB crane swinging a steel ball into something until it’s unable to resist the onslaught is very much a thing of the past. Demolition companies now carry out careful studies into the construction and physical make-up of any structure before commencing work. Also, other factors within the surrounding area are equally important. Notably, the likely effects of the demolition upon other premises and their occupants, risk of contamination to the environment and most importantly health and safety concerns for everyone affected.
Modern demolition techniques are more akin to material recovery and recycling using modern sophisticated machinery to carefully dismantle a structure.
THE CHALLENGE OF MOVING ABNORMAL OBJECTS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER DOESN’T JUST INVOLVE THE HEAVY HAULAGE FRATERNITY, VITAL AS THEY ARE. THAT LAST MILE, OR EVEN FEW METRES, IS AS IMPORTANT AS ALL THE REST. HEAVYTORQUE HAS TAKEN A LONG HARD LOOK AT ENERPAC HEAVY LIFTING TECHNOLOGY’S CONTRIBUTION TO OUR INDUSTRY. HEAVYTORQUE SPEAKS TO JEREMY STUBBS, SALES AND MARKETING.
Many global companies had modest beginnings. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started in a garage in 1939, making a simple audio oscillator. And so it is with Enerpac, the power behind Heavy Lifting Technology (HLT). Enerpac can trace its lineage back to 1920 with the supply of a water pump to the Ford Motor Company for its iconic Model T. Their reputation as a technology leader began in the 1920’s when the first hydraulic jacks were introduced. In the late 50’s, an Industrial Products Division was formed, and along with it, the brand name Enerpac (‘Energy Pack’) was born. Since then, Enerpac has developed an unrivalled range of hydraulic tools for thousands of applications, in virtually every industry.
Issue Eleven: with 196 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
NICK SAMPSON MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SERVICES HAS BUILT A SUCCESSFUL HEAVY TRANSPORT OPERATION IN NORTH DEVON, DESPITE THE LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES ITS RURAL LOCATION PRESENTS. HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT HOW THIS WAS ACHIEVED.
Establishing a specialist transport operation in a predominately rural location is difficult at the best of times, the lack of heavy industry combined with the distance from big centres of population, all work against an operator. Big infrastructure projects such as new roads and bridges tend only to happen about once every 50 years with plant hire and construction companies either running their own fleets or playing the market with established hauliers to keep their costs to a minimum.
The only way to realistically build a business in these areas, is to have as many strings to your bow as possible, be involved in lots of allied activities that create demand for each individual service and ensure that there’s always something to do, even in the quietest times. Barnstaple-based Nick Sampson Mechanical Engineering Services has done exactly this for the past 30 years, and has been able to expand its operations in many ways.
A YEAR AGO, MERCEDES-BENZ TRUCK AND VAN DEALER WESTERN COMMERCIAL MADE AN EXTREMELY BOLD DECISION: TO CREATE A ROLE FOR A SPECIALIST SALES EXECUTIVE TO WORK WITH THE HEAVY HAULAGE INDUSTRY. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
Western Commercial is Scotland’s largest Mercedes- Benz commercial vehicle dealer, and is part of the Eastern Western Motor Group. The company operates out of four sites across Scotland, at Bellshill, Broxburn, Govan and Dundee, but its heavy haulage sales specialist has a UK-wide remit. The person fulfilling the new specialist role is Geoff Davies, a well-respected name in the industry who developed his knowledge and expertise during stints with Foden Trucks and Nooteboom Trailers, as well as with various Mercedes-Benz dealers. Davies first began trying to interest heavy hauliers in Mercedes- Benz trucks in the early 2000s, when the company released the Actros SLT Titan. “When I started, they didn’t offer a heavy haulage truck up to 250 tonnes,” he recalls. “Then Mercedes-Benz released the SLT Titan, and they were asking if there was anyone in the UK that might be interested.”
Issue Eleven: with 196 pages of first-class journalism and photography, what more can you wish for? HeavyTorque, Britain’s best loved specialist transport title! Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or individual copy.
