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needs more than just dropping off a pallet and saying
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'thank you very much'. It means we can get asked to deliver anything from a microchip to an incubator or an airship."
In many cases that sort of service involves a site survey, to assess the extent of the work involved, before the vehicles are allocated. For example, a scheduled delivery for a client to Worthing means that the machine has to go through the first floor window of a shopping centre.
The person who handles the complicated vehicle scheduling that can result is transport director Zachary Thole, who doubles as the company's Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor.
Sensitive goods
Thole achieves the flexibility required by having a mixed fleet of customised vehicles with a variety of accessories designed to ensure the daily safe passage of sensitive goods and, of course, drivers.
"The drivers are all ADR approved and MOD security cleared and we have some who have completed an additional course to cover them for the radioactive waste that is scheduled as Class 7," he reports. "It's all medical waste by the way—nothing military." The 30vehicle fleet incorporates a range of bodies and internal fittings to suit just about any conceivable load, often with padding and strapping to secure delicate equipment.
When you realise that the load might be used to save a young baby's life or a patient's eyesight, it makes you realise the responsibility handled by the drivers in the course of their daily routine. They are highly trained to deal with the equipment, the various situations that will arise and the customers they will meet. " It can cause problems when the drivers leave, but they don't tend to do that very often," says Furnell. "Most of our guys have been with us for a very long time.
The business was founded by David Furnell back in 1967 and has been through a number of changes since then. At one time, it traded as D Furnell Plant Services—a brand name that still exists as the parent company and harks back to the company's roots in equipment handling. Early customers included Rolls Royce and British Aerospace: BA derivative TRW remains a customer 35 years on.
Much of the new business is generated by word of mouth, and the cus tomer base has also extended as the customers themselves have evolved.
Some have moved into telecommuniFLEET: cations and high-profile customers have been added in this sector, including Marconi, Cisco Systems, Eltek and BT.
However, the telecommunications business has taken a pounding recently, and Furnell Transport has experienced some knock-on effects. "We are obviously doing less in that sector as a result of changes in the world economic situation," says David Furnell.
When such problems arise the benefits of diversification become very clear. Carrying medical waste and exhibition work are just two of its many markets. Several clients are in the printing equipment supply business, and as well as delivering equipment for installa tion, Furnell Transport will be assisting many of these suppliers with their exhibition plans for the major printing industry exhibition that gets under way at the NEC this month.
What better company to deliver your goods to the show, than the company that delivers the goods to your customers during the rest of the year?
As well as contributing to the bottom line and protecting the company from industry
BASED:
downturns, this diversification adds variety to the daily driving routine. "If we are involved with a big international exhibition it can mean that the vehicles have to be left out there and that we have to fly the drivers back," says Furnell. "They will go back and collect them again after the exhibition."
Given the nature of the company's work, there are many occasions when the vehicles will return from a job empty—often it's essential, to be ready for the next specialist load. That means a premium has to be paid, and that can be another benefit from being a specialist operator.
Thole says that the company has also benefited, to a degree, from its geographical location. Hemel Hempstead is not just a centre of IT production, it has excellent infrastructure links to the rest of the UK. He adds that in general the company has been fortunate to add
30 vehicles including three tractors (two Dafs and one Foden); 17-tonners and 7.5-tonners: and vans. Specialist equipment: Low loaders, box and curtain-sided trailers with tail lifts and padded interiors. Buys new. Most recent fleet adettket Two Dam' LF45s, January 2002.
SPECUMY: General haulage, machinery movements and installation, exhibition equipment and hazgoods, particularly medical waste.
some new specialisations at important times.
While some operators worry about the preChristmas rush and agricultural carriers brace themselves for harvest times, Purnell Transport keeps its eye on another focal point of the calendar year.
In March and early April some customers are keen to ensure that their budget allocations have been spent on capital equipment before the end of the financial year, and new machinery has to be delivered. "It's about the only time of the year we experience any kind of seasonality," says Thole. That sounds like a good season to have at anytime.
• Furnell has revamped its website, offering details of the fleet, warehousing and services on offer. Contact: www.fignell.com.