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Few family-run, medium-sized haulage contractors have enjoyed the national reputation built up by Devon-based Brian Harris
Words: John Henderson / Images: Christine Lamb, A1 Archive Brian Harris was born in 1943, just two years after his father Jerry created a partnership with his brother-in-law Sam to form the firm Harris & Miners. In those days, the fledgling fleet was run from the picturesque Devon village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor and living a stone’s throw away in Dunstone, Brian Harris was riding in lorries as soon as he was old enough to sit upright in the passenger seat. In his teens, he acted as a lookout for traffic cops on the firm’s signature Devon-Scotland runs with driver Bill Baty in his Leyland Steer.
At 17, Harris started on long distance driving with his father. His first steed was a four-year-old Albion Chieftain that tipped the scales at just under three tons unladen, a requirement then for under 21s. It was around this time that the firm’s signature Brunswick green livery, complemented by a wide scarlet red waistband and white roof, began to emerge. Each motor was given an individual fleet name, most of them coming from characters in the local folk song Widecombe Fair.
In due course, Harris moved on to a Thames Trader and when he came of age, a heavier Trader was bought. Harris enjoyed the trips to Scotland and his weekly presence up north cemented many business associations and friendships that would last the rest of his life. Jerry Harris ordered his son into the traffic office during 1966, after their traffic manager left. Harris complied, but as a form of protest, parked his three-year-old Thames by the yard entrance. The wagon never turned a wheel again, until an auction in 2001 when trees were cut from between the chassis rails and it was dragged out for sale (see bottom right).
Buy-out
After the death of his father in May 1978, Harris bought the remainder of the Miners family’s interests in Harris & Miners and Brian Harris Transport Limited was formed. His mother Margaret was co-director. From the outside there was little difference, because in reality Harris had been running affairs since his enforced entry to the office. Apart from the subtle change in vehicle lettering, one noticeable difference was that sleeper cabs became the norm with every new vehicle purchase. Harris's meticulous standards of vehicle maintenance and presentation meant a one-driver, one-truck and onetrailer policy was always deployed and, as often as not, loads would be transhipped rather than an artic being uncoupled. Every tractor and trailer were subject to an annual chassis repaint prior to their MoT test and the required sign writing was duly reapplied by ex-Harris & Miners’ driver John Corah.
In all his years at the helm, nobody can ever remember Harris taking a holiday, although in 1982 he visited America as a guest of Cummins and ERF. On that occasion, driver Bill Mortimore did a sterling job of running the show and his only distractions were the frequent transatlantic telephone calls from Harris to conduct operations.
This corner of Devon has a friendly, close-knit community and Harris employees were always treated like extended family. It wasn’t uncommon for sons to follow fathers driving for the firm and a big percentage of the team had accrued decades of loyal service. A happy working atmosphere was always the order of the day and if things ever got heated, some good-natured banter always helped to return calmer moods.
Harris had a discreet and extensive involvement in the local community over many decades.
By the late 1980s, the fleet had grown to just over 30 trucks, almost all of which were ERFs and Brian Harris Transport entered the last decade of the 20th century in good shape. The 1990s, however, witnessed a remarkable pace of change, making running a business of this size single-handed particularly challenging. In the next few years, a number of long-standing key customers went to the wall and almost all owed Brian Harris substantial sums. Ridiculous rate cutting by other contractors took away more loads, although to Harris’s credit he worked hard to source other clients and never laid off a driver.
Keeping control
In the mid-1990s, attempts were made to take some pressure off Harris by bringing in a driver to train for the office, but the boss and his mother didn’t want to relinquish any personal control over their business. This ‘volunteer’ ended up fixing perimeter fences and helping out in the yard or workshop. And so this traditional operation continued in its ways right up to its closure in the spring of 2001 (see box).
That was not quite the end of the story though, because Harris kept his office, but leased out various buildings and parts of the yard to third parties. In the following 11 years until his untimely death, Harris was at Pottery Road almost every working day. The telephone never stopped ringing and customers continued to request organisation of their transport requirements across the country.
Brian Harris was a big man with a character that more than matched his physique. His word was his bond, and his determination to stick to old-fashioned values won him many friends and an unequalled respect within the UK haulage industry. This industry icon represented the 20th century’s golden age of road transport when roped and sheeted loads were carried on British-built lorries. He died in Torbay Hospital on Tuesday, 3 April 2012 following a short illness, leaving the transport industry a poorer, less colourful place. ■
CALLING IT A DAY
On Friday, 30 March 2001 Brian Harris decided he
had seen enough and put his entire fleet of trucks and trailers up for sale. A week later, he reluctantly made his valued team of 35 drivers redundant. Several local suppliers were also affected by the loss of associated trade links.
Financially, the business was in great shape, but at the time local council bureaucracy was correctly cited by the press as the main reason for this haulage icon’s shock departure.
Increasing operating costs and the knock-on effects of a Foot and Mouth outbreak were also contributory factors.
Wye Valley Commercials conducted the retirement auction of Brian Harris on 18 April 2001 at Bovey Tracey, where 197 registered prospective buyers and dozens of onlookers saw the fleet dispersed across the country. During the proceedings Brian sat quietly in his office and welcomed a steady stream of old friends and visitors, all wishing him well. Every vehicle had a price on its roof, even his sorry-looking Thames Trader that realised £250. The only lorry not to make its reserve was a 1960 ERF KV named Happy Wanderer. This motor had been owned since new by the firm and was subsequently kept by Brian and subjected to a meticulous restoration by C&G Coachworks in Much Wenlock, Shropshire.