Stockport Haulier Started From Scratch
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kAANY people outside the haulage I.V1 industry regard it as a closed shop. into which newcomers cannot break because of out-dated licensing laws.
A Stockport haulier, Mr. Norman J. Duddy, trading as H. R. D. Maconochie, Ltd., is an example showing that such beliefs result from ignorance of the true facts.
Mr. Duddy, who was originally a civil engineer, and came to grief in his own business (Radcliffe, Wilson and Co., Ltd.) in 1952, started in haulage from scratch. With nothing but faith in his own ability, he mortgaged his home and acquired the shares of H. R. D. Maconochie, Ltd., with an old A-licensed Vulcan tractor and low-loader trailer which was practically worn out.
Driving the vehicle himself for the first six months from a base at Higher Bury St., Stockport, belonging to another haulier, Mr. Duddy built up a connection by attending plant and machinery sales during the civil engineering slump and making contacts with people who required the removal of goods purchased.
Soon the original vehicle was replaced by a Bedford tractor and a 15-ton Hands semi-trailer, and the business continued to expand.
In 1954 Mr. Duddy was able to purchase out of profits a special A-licensed Bedford artic with a semi-low-loader trailer from B.R.S. (Pickfords), Ltd. This vehicle, like many other units sold on denationalization, was in poor condition and after operation for a few months was substituted by a Thornycroft with a 12ton B.T.C. semi-trailer.
The business continued to prosper and with the support of satisfied customers Maconochie's were able to obtain A licences for two additional heavy artics, an E.R.F. with a 25-ton Taskers semitrailer in June, 1957. and a Thornycroft n30
wiLh a 20-ton Taskers unit in May, 1959. The E.R.F. has recently been substituted for a new tractive unit of the same make.
These vehicles are all working to capacity and earning approximately £5,000 a year apiece. With 350 satisfied customers on the company's books, further expansion will soon be necessary.
How has this success been achieved? The answer is by hard work, a close study of customers' requirements, and competitive quotations. The company is completely independent and has no financial backing either from a combine or any of the banks.
Questions of rate increases or otherwise do not arise, for each job is the subject either of a prior quotation or, as is the case with many satisfied customers, is charged after completion on the basis of a fair profit on the actual cost.
The movement is mainly of road and building contractors' plant, such as bulldozers, cranes and tarmac machines; transformers (which are placed in position), lathes, mining machinery, screening plant and. boilers. Destinations include all parts of the country but are chiefly within 100 miles.
The company .moved to a depot of its own, an ex-A.R.P. site at Sheffield Street, Stockport, three years ago. Here there is ample parking space and a small office run by Mr. George Bird, who has been manager for the past six years. Eight drivers are employed, two to each vehicle, and they are responsible for general maintenance. Overhauls and major repairs are sent out as the most economical method at this stage.
Plans for improvement of the site include an office block and open garage space with a concrete or tarmac apron for a considerable number of vehicles.
In the main the business has been built up without sub-contracting, except for goods unsuitable for low-loader vehicles.
Mr. Duddy believes in close snpervision to ensure that all operations comply with the regulations, and log sheets are rigorously checked weekly. It is the company's proud boast that, to date, no conviction has been recorded against them for breach of drivers' hours.
Mr. Duddy believes that unity in the industry will benefit all and is this year's chairman of Stockport sub-area of the R.H.A.
In 1960 he entered three of his drivers in the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition, and Mr. B. Parry, driving a Thornycroft Mastiff. won his class at the Manchester qualifying event.
Mr. Duddy's experience has been that the E.R.F. tractor with a Gardner engine is ideal for the class of work upon which he is chiefly engaged, and, so far as trailers are concerned, preference is for Taskers because of the wooden floor. While otherwise ideal, the steel floor of B.T.C. trailers presents a tendency for bulldozers to skid or slip.
Mr. Duddy's view is that one of the future difficulties facing heavy haulage operators is the tremendous increase in the number of Band C-licensed vehicles operated by contractors themselves