p eter Metcalfe has just bought four shiny new Volvos. For
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many hauliers that would be no big deal, but it's a big step for Metcalfe. Not only is his company, W Metcalfe & Sons, a small outfit with a fleet of only six vehicles; this is the first time the firm has bought anything on hire-purchase.
Based in the village of Appersett, set in the rural idyll of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Metcalfe's company has been operating for more than 70 years on the principle that you don't spend money you don't have.
Metcalfe himself is just 31 years old and only took over the running of the company about five months ago, "My uncle, who used to run the firm with my dad, now works for me; we've sort of switched places," says Metcalfe. With the change in leadership has come a willingness to modernise, and the new Volvos are the first evidence of this.
Although the firm has always preferred to buy its vehicles new, it has traditionally done so outright. "My grandad never had an overdraft, and neither has my dad," says MetrNife. deals like the one offered by Volvo." This includes two years' free maintenance, and Metcalfe expects to see fuel economy improved by up to 'mpg compared with his old Volvos. There's also a fi,000 VED rebate on the new Euro-3 machines.
Founded in 1927 by Metcalfe's grandfather, the company started out carrying coal. This was largely replaced after the war with livestock, and the company diversified into general haulage in the 19505. Hardly any coal is carried these days; and general haulage accounts for most of the firm's turnover.
A lot of its work involves hauling loads from Liverpool arid Birkenhead across the Pennines to Middlesborough, Newcastle and other urban centres on the East coast. Fertiliser, paper, chemicals, building materials, straw and hay make up the bulk of Metcalfe's loads these days. "Livestock haulage is mainly in the hands of the big companies these days," he explains. What little livestock the firm does haul is carried in demountable bodies which bolt onto its six-wheel Volvo rigid and drawbar trailer.
Although Metcalfe has some loyal customers stretching back decades, none of the company's business is done on a contract basis. "We don't contract with anybody — it's too tying", says Metcalfe. "Once you're tied that we've been doing for years...we don't need a contract, we keep the work because we give good service and the customer keeps coming back."
Metcalfe seems pretty satisfied with business at present. Diesel prices and VED are a cause for some irritation, but he's philosophical: "Diesel prices will never come down, we've just got to accept that He also believes that "the haulage man's worst enemy is himself'. In other words, more businesses go under because they over-stretch themselves than because of cut-throat competition. As for rates, "the difference between a good rate and a bad rate is 50 pence," he says. "I've turned down jobs because of that, and I've usually been able to pick up a better rate somewhere else."
Metcalfe has clearly inherited the frugal instincts of his father, uncle and grandfather. Although he was prepared to buy new vehicles on HP, he was careful not to squander those he was replacing. "I didn't trade them in because you don't get much for them that way," he says. "So I took a risk and held on to them until I'd done the deal for the new vehicles; then I sold the old ones and got a decent price."
Though willing to modernise, Metcalfe is taking things slowly. His next decision is going to be a major one: whether to buy the company's first-ever computer.
by David Taylor