ISLAND CARRIERS
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atthew Pritchard, son of William—the owner of Hugh Town-based Island Carriers—responds quickly when CM asks if he would expand business to the mainland. The answer is an emphatic "no". He is content helping his father run his haulage business on St Mary's. Indeed, the shores of England are not even familiar territory— Pritchard has lived on the Isles of Scilly for all of his 26 years, However, the influence of Island Carriers does extend to the far reaches of the British Isles, albeit in spirit only. The company offers a removal service which, theoretically, could mean transporting a settee from a home on St Mary's all the way to Aberdeen. Bearing in mind the Island Carriers fleet, which includes flatbeds and a tipper, this service sounds a little ambitious.
Pritchard explains. "We offer a removal service from St Mary's to anywhere in the UK. But we subcontract the mainland work to AR Newport in Penzance. This means AR Newport vehicles carrying goods to Penzance, from where they travel by ship to the harbour at St Mary's. Then Island Carriers collect them. The operation works vice-versa. For a prospective home mover it is certainly convenient, dispensing with the need to organise two separate moves and negotiate the sea."
But this is just a fraction of Island Carriers' work—perhaps more than anything it shows a wilfingness to look at every conceivable market, When William Pritchard bought Island Carriers in 1989 the firm was founded in 1975) the fleet comprised four HCVs. "We had to expand the fleet because we could see there was a market for reefers and lorry-mounted cranes," says Pritchard.
Island Carriers wasted no time in investing in the gear, it was a wise decision. Pritchard says: "Over the years the frozen and chilled food market has expanded. We take food to restaurants, pubs and shops." Island Carriers is also involved in skip hire.
The firm has a contract with the only supermarket on St Mary's—the Co-Op. Chilled food is carried in the company's Ford Cargo reefer.
A Leyland Roadrunner 7.5-tonner is used chiefly to take luggage from the harbour to hotels and guest houses, and a Mercedes 608 boxvan is on hand for general parcel deliveries across the island.
Complementing this fleet is a Sherpa tipper, a common visitor to building sites on St Mary's, and also a Ford Transit which, according to Pritchard, is used to transport anything not carried by the other vehicles. And then there is the Nissan Urvan, which, among other things, is used to transport coffins for the local undertaker. Island Carriers also runs a Leyland Freighter 17-tonner with an Atlas crane. In addition to Matthew and William, two drivers are employed.
Like Richard Hand, Island Carriers always buys second-hand. Pritchard says: "Vehicles rust quickly over here because of the salt in the air. We buy solid second-hand vehicles which are then sold for scrap." The purchase of a truck necessitates a trip to the mainland.
With anomalies such as no MoT, and the irrtroduc tier' of the Class 1 licence just two years ago, haulage on the Isles of Scilly seems a different world. Although the price of diesel is the same as on the mainland, there is another striking difference, one that all hauliers' dream of: bargain basement road tax. Any vehicle over 3.5 tonnes ou the Isles of Scilly incurs a road tax fee of just £160 a year. And it is not as if the Government limits the size of vehicles on the islands; In theory an HGV of any size
can operate on the roads.
A 2.5m wide, 40-tanner would be allowed to operate on the island but common sense hopefully would prevail. Still, in theory a 40-tonner would mean road tax of £160, rather than 15,750 at mainland rates.
At present the biggest vehicles rumbling along St Mary's roads are the 17-tanners—both Leyland Freighters with cranes—operated by Richard Hand and Island Carriers. Pritchard admits haulage on the island has its perks, but also its hazards, "A lot is expected of us, and this does put more pressure on and we are always aware of what the other haulier is doing."
Often that tendency to carry out the same work sees both hauliers in the same spot. CM was down at St Mary's harbour as Richard Hand was using his Hiab lorry-mounted crane to scoop up a boat from the sea. Just yards away were William and Matthew Pritchard, using their Atlas to deposit a boat—along with its two occupants—on the sea.
This is not surprising. These trucks are operating on a small island with a population of just 1,51313; if you fail to keep the customer happy you cannot transfer your work elsewhere, Still, Pritchard says that Richard Hand Haulage and Island Carriers do sometimes work together, pooling their resources to gat the job done, You could call it something of a friendly rivalry. How does Pritchard see his decade in haulage? "I have no regrets but it is a lot harder than I expected," he says.
And it is not only haulage which is keeping him busy. Now an engaged man, Pritchard plans to set about building a home on St Mary's next month, preparing himself for married life. It's going to be a busy winter!" One thing is certain: he won't have to worry about who is going to deliver the materials to the building site.