Haulage is about running trucks, but for some operators it
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doesn't stop there. Kent-based Freightmaster is a prime example of one keen to explore new horizons from rail to warehousing. Mike Sherrington reports.
n the current tough economic climate it is unusual to see a medium-sized haulage firm expanding. But Kentbased Freightmaster is going against the grain. The firm has just opened a new warehouse in Dagenham, east London, which follows hard on the heels of another warehouse opening in Wigan. And two more are in the pipeline, one of them possibly in Scotland.
It is also very much a modern distribution firm. It uses rail as well as road for moving freight, and it is developing its own web site and a system which accurately allows clients to track the movement of their goods. On top of this, it sponsors its own motor racing team, with a car driven by director Annie Templeton. This move has already paid dividends by attracting a number of new clients to the firm.
The firm was founded in 1972 by Annie's husband, Jim Templeton, who is still chair
man. There are three directors, including Annie, but none holds a specific title. "It is very much our philosophy that we expect everyone to do everything and this applies to our staff as well. This is why we do not have titles," she says.
The firm started as a general haulier carrying out a lot of international work, much of which involved moving containers. And about zo years ago it started its relationship with Yamaha which it has maintained ever since.0 Now it is the main distributor in the UK for Yamaha.
About 43% of the workload is farmed out to subcontractors, Though less than in the past, it is a figure that Templeton says is "perhaps a bit too high", although she does acknowledge the contribution made by the subbies.
The firm also has a European partner, Ambrogio, which runs freight trains throughout Europe. Freightmaster handles the greatest percentage of its UK traffic so much of its work now involves collecting the trailers from railheads and distributing onwards.
Improved distribution
As a result of this link, Freightmaster has opened a new warehouse in Wigan to improve its distribution in the Manchester area. Goods go to Trafford Park near Manchester by rail where they are picked up and taken to the warehouse for sorting and onwards delivery.
Freightmaster will also consider using rail for moving goods independently of the Ambrogio train. Templeton says: "By using swap bodies, carrying goods by rail is perfectly feasible, although it is potentially more expensive. The key to the whole operation is whether we can get backloads which obviously means moving goods by roads is cheaper for us."
What Freightmaster is trying to do is to find the markets where there is potential. One of these is in smaller deliveries—which is why the firm developed the 2,000m2 Dagenham warehouse. The depot is due to become fully operational on t September
The warehouse will concentrate on picking and packing work and, although it will handle some of core client Yamaha's smaller work, Freightmaster will also try to woo new clients, including those who specialise in foodstuffs. The firm's main fleet will continue to be based at Rainham but it is intending to buy another 7.3-tonner and two vans for use at Dagenham.
Similarly, it says it is trying to develop business in areas which are currently poorly covered by the type of operation it can provide and has singled out Scotland as a target.
Templeton says: "We feel that, because of our size, which is reasonably small, we can operate a bespoke service to our clients. I think that one of the problems with a really big company is that it is much more difficult to track the movement of goods."
A key to this tracking is the web site, and the firm has developed a subsidiary operation, E-freight, to handle this side of the business. Potential clients can use the site to obtain quotes but existing clients will have their own special part of the site, which will be secure.
"This will allow clients to communicate with us by using their browser and will allow them to do anything—look at their stocks, find out where their goods are and place delivery orders. It is quite a big project and taking up a lot of my time," says Templeton.
On top of this, Freightmaster is in talks with two or three larger operators about developing a state-of-the-art goods tracking service, but Templeton insists that in many ways, small is beautiful.
She says: "We don't want to become another company like TNT which has hubs all over the place. What we want to do is set up at least one or two other centres where we can ship up at-tics and break from there."
Apart from her involvement as part owner
and director of the company, another important factor in Templeton's life is her motor racing career. She started racing 13 years ago and currently races an MGF. This is one of 30 adapted MG sports cars which the manufacturer puts out to tender each year.
"They are very difficult cars to drive well," she says. "Some well-known stars of the motor racing scene have had a go and slinked away, deciding discretion is the better part of valour, so I am quite pleased at obtaining my goal of achieving a top TO finish this season."
Brands Hatch
She is not sure what she will be driving next year because of the current stand-off in British motor racing between Silverstone and Brands Hatch over who will hold the British Grand Prix. But she does say that Freightmaster has won several new clients through its racing exploits.
One of the companies which does not sponsor her is Yamaha, which Templeton says "probably has its thoughts elsewhere". But Yamaha is important to Freightmaster in providing the core business which has allowed it to evolve into a thoroughly modern haulage company.