SPECIALIST HAULIER PLANT SPEED, BASED NEAR AVONMOUTH, OPERATES A DIVERSE FLEET OF MODERN EQUIPMENT TO UNDERTAKE ALL MANNER OF SPECIALIST JOBS. HEAVYTORQUE VISITS THE COMPANY HQ AT HALLEN ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER SEVERN.
Flexibility and the ability to adapt to a changing marketplace has never been more important than at the present for almost any business. The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the most challenging for a long time and many companies have had to completely change their way of operating to survive in this slightly scary new world. Many of the established norms no longer apply and it’s very difficult to predict what will happen in the future, hence the need for specialist transport companies to be able to undertake a very wide range of different types of work, as the marketplace requires.
Fortunately, Bristol-based specialist haulier Plant Speed, is well versed in this process. Adaptability is a cornerstone of the operation. Flexibility with the trucks and equipment it operates, in the planning and operation of the business and, most importantly, an inherent adaptability in the staff it employs.
IT’S THE MASSIVE VEHICLES MOVING HUGE LOADS WHICH GRAB THE GLORY, AND THE HEADLINES, BUT THEY WOULDN’T BE GOING ANYWHERE WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ESCORT DRIVERS. HEAVYTORQUE HAS BEEN SPEAKING TO ONE OF THEM ABOUT LIVING LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE.
There used to be an expression: ‘behind every great man, there’s a great woman.’ Maybe the equivalent in our industry is that behind every great load, there’s a great escort driver. Many of the larger operators have their own escort vans and drivers, but many hauliers, large and small, rely on independent escorters. Fastrans Logistik operates the UK’s largest independent fleet of pilot escort vehicles with 12 vans spread across the UK. The company, which is based in Uxbridge, was set up seven years ago by managing director Sean Lewis, although his experience of transporting abnormal loads goes back more than 30 years.
“My family used to live in North London,” Lewis tells me, “and were fruit and veg merchants. So, during the school holidays, I used to go out with my cousin in an old Mercedes 1729 delivering boxes of produce.
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AINSCOUGH CRANE HIRE’S ‘MAKE THE SAFE CHOICE’ ETHOS EMPOWERS ITS OPERATORS TO BE IN FULL CONTROL OF EVERY LIFT, EVERY TIME. HEAVYTORQUE ARE IMPRESSED WITH ITS ‘BOOTS-TO-BOARDROOM’ APPROACH TO QUALITY, HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT.
Let’s try a bit of word association. We say: ‘Ainscough Crane Hire…now you say?’ If you’re still scratching your head you’re probably reading the wrong magazine. Like ‘Hoover’ and ‘Transit’, Ainscough Crane Hire has become the generic term for crane hire in the UK lifting-industry. And not without good reason either. Despite all the current challenges of COVID-19, Ainscough Crane Hire remains No 1 in the latest ‘Top 30’ league-table for UK mobile crane hirers as compiled by Cranes & Access magazine.
Putting the company’s ‘outreach’ into context, Ainscough’s head of transport Marcus Gough rattles-off some impressive stats: “We’re the UK’s leading lifting-solutions company with a national network of 30-locations, stretching from the Scottish Highlands to Exeter in the South West. Our 900-plus workforce operates a fleet of more-than 400 cranes with up-to 1,000-tonnes capacity. It’s the largest and most-diverse fleet of cranes in the country, supported by 150-plus trucks, vans and smaller plant.”
KENT-BASED LORRY CRANE SPECIALIST RS FRENCH IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS SPECIALIST CONTAINER PROVISION. BUT NOW IT HAS STARTED TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND DEVELOP ITS THIRD-PARTY HAULAGE WORK TOO, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE HEAVY END. HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT MORE.
At the time of our chat with Matthew French, operations director of Faversham, Kent-based RS French, England had just been told it was shortly to enter its second national lockdown. But happily, this didn’t seem to worry him much. “Lockdown hasn’t made much difference to us. We supply key sectors so there is plenty of work at the moment,” he says. “In fact we’re extremely busy.”
If anything, demand for RS French’s specialist containers – which are used as site accommodation and self-contained welfare units, as well as modular buildings of other kinds – has increased in recent months as workspaces have attempted to ensure greater social distancing and sought to spread their staff out using additional breakout or office spaces, French confirms.
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FOUNDED IN 1972, FLANNERY PLANT HIRE HAS GROWN RAPIDLY AND NOW HAS IN EXCESS OF 3,500 UNITS AND USES OVER 50-DELIVERY VEHICLES TO COVER LOCATIONS ACROSS THE UK. HEAVYTORQUE TALKS TO JOHN MORAN AND CHRIS MATTHEW AT THE COMPANY’S RELATIVELY NEW DEPOT AT COLESHILL, IN BIRMINGHAM.
Managing the transport requirements for one of the biggest plant and construction equipment hire fleets in the country is a complex and demanding task in itself, ensuring that it is a safe, compliant and cost effective operation. Multiple depots, a diverse range of vehicles and trailers, adds another layer of complexity to the task.
Fortunately, John Moran, company director and head of transport operations at Flannery Plant, has both the management structure and resources at his disposal to achieve this. The group operates throughout the UK and Ireland with a network of seven depots stretching from the head office in Wembley, to Aberdeen in the North, Newport in the West and a depot in Dublin. The company was founded in 1972 by Patrick Flannery Senior, with just one JCB 3C backhoe loader, as Flannery Plant (Oval) Ltd. Based near to the famous Oval cricket ground, the founder is still actively involved in the operation in his role as Chairman, along with his three sons, Martin, Patrick and Paul.
FOR OVER A CENTURY, ROBERT WYNN AND SONS EARNED A REPUTATION FOR MOVING HEAVY LOADS BY ROAD BEFORE A SERIES OF MERGERS LED TO THE NAME DISAPPEARING IN THE 1980s. HOWEVER, NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO THE ICONIC BURGUNDY AND GOLD LIVERY RETURNED, BUT THIS TIME ON TWO SPECIALIST HEAVY LOAD CARRYING VESSELS, AS HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
A photograph on the front page of The Times in April 2004 caused the heavy haulage fraternity to sit up and take notice. The image showed Concorde passing in front of the Houses of Parliament on a barge. Emblazoned in gold lettering along the 80m length of the vessel were the words ‘ROBERT WYNN & SONS LTD. EST. 1863.’ The name had died out when the heavy haulage operation had been merged with Wrekin Roadways under the United Heavy Transport banner, before being amalgamated into Econofreight in 1985. But now the Robert Wynn name was back! And this time it was Peter Wynn, the great, great grandson of founder Thomas Wynn who was at the helm. “I’m the fifth generation of the Wynn family to be involved,” he tells me, “and I was determined the name wasn’t going to disappear on my watch!”
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JOHN HUDSON TRAILERS IS RECOGNISED THROUGHOUT THE SPECIALIST TRANSPORT INDUSTRY AS THE GO-TO ORGANISATION IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO HIRE A SPECIAL TRAILER. IT DEALS WITH OPERATORS UP AND DOWN THE LAND AND CAN ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE A SUITABLE TRAILER FOR ALMOST ANY TASK. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
Bawtry-based John Hudson Trailers, dominates this sector of the trailer market, but it offers a great deal more than just specialist trailer hire. It’s more than happy to hire a trailer for just a day, or almost an indefinite period of time. It will let you buy that trailer at almost any point in the hire, or if that particular version doesn’t meet your needs, you can pick anything from a basic flat trailer, to specialist fixed or extending model with up to seven axles. You can also take a look at the brand new stock that arrives at its premises almost every week. It offers a wide range of finance and leasing packages to suit almost every requirement and is happy to take trailers in part-exchange to facilitate the purchase of a stock trailer.
Furthermore, it offers full repair and maintenance services, for trailers, trucks and buses. Everything from a safety inspection, to a full MOT, or even a complete refurbishment of the chassis and running gear of your own equipment.
Issue Twenty Five: with 148 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.
