• In 1988, Ian Morris believed he could make his
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dream come true by building his own independent haulage firm. He wasn't aiming for anything grand, just a profitable, niche operation working for customers who were discerning enough to pay for a top quality service. Something to be proud of.
He saw his chance with the introduction of the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages) Regulations 1986. They laid down tough new requirements which were a nightmare for traditional dry freight carriers. After 25 years in transport he knew fortunes are not made overnight. But he saw a chance to meet a new need and make niche marketing pay.
Three years on, Morris's plans are in tatters. He remains admirably resilient, but is desperately trying to find a buyer for his business, Hazfreight.
Morris of Chelmsford, Essex was as well equipped as most to set up in haulage. He was a long-distance and international driver until 1975 when he looked for a local job so that he could see his two children growing up: "I took a traffic office job at RMC, even though it involved a considerable cut in wages," he says. "After three years, the novelty wore off. I got a CPC and started as a company driver, then got my first mixer truck as a contract haulier."
Soon he expanded to a fleet of three and took on three drivers. Things were looking good. But then the market plummeted and Morris realised his only option was to move out of construction haulage.
He believed that the new Hazchem regs offered him the ideal opportunity to do this. The local small firms' advice centre recommended a mailshot to 850 companies, offering a specialised Hazchem haulage service. "The centre told me if I got half a dozen replies I would be doing well," he says: "I got 35."
Encouraged by this he decided to specialise in explosives transport. The route to success for Hazfreight, he believed, was to offer a high quality service, so he decided on a top-spec truck which would meet and better ADR B3 standards.
He went for a Mercedes-Benz 13-tonner, because potential customers said they rarely had loads of more than five tonnes and, at £25,000, the chassis was £10,000 cheaper than a 17-tonner. ABS and anti-slip control was specified, with air suspension and a double-sleeper (explosive trucks must be double-manned). The truck was also wired for drawbar use. • Chassis Developments of Leighton Buzzard, Beds would look after safety-related work, such as a fire screen and an electrical fail-safe system.
A Smiths (Great Bentley), Essex handled the bodywork. With customers expressing much interest, the chassis was ordered on 3 October, and launch day was set for 1 March 1989, at the latest.
There followed a series of disasters. The chassis was due to be released by Mercedes in early January, but Morris was told by the dealer he ordered the truck from that the unusual 12-speed gearbox option and problems with the wiring loom had caused delays. It then transpired that the truck had been delivered with standard, instead of air, suspension.
The suspension was changed on retrofit, and the truck was finally ready for the road on 25 October, having been ADR B3, Pet Reg and TIR approved. But by this stage almost all the core customers had lost interest, and the explosives business was now looking like a closed club: "We got some decent jobs," says Morris, "but they were one-offs, just odd days."
The commercial climate had changed. Hazardous goods transport was no longer as much of a niche as it had been when he had set out more than a year before, and the first chill blasts of recession were beginning to be felt. "In any case, I think I overestimated the impact of the 'fear effect' on rates," he says. Potential customers might have liked his kit, but few were prepared to pay extra for the privilege of having it carry their goods. Work did pick up for a year, but it was still a struggle to make ends meet. The industrial unit he had acquired as a base had to be sold.
But of course the truck still had to be paid for. Lombard North Central had agreed to finance it on the basis of three months down and the balance over five years, at a cool £1,048 a month. It was then refinanced by General Guarantee. "I could have put a vehicle on the road for half the price, say a Renault with a less secure body," says Morris, "but I was going for top quality. The truck was what I felt an explosives carrier should be like. The MoD likes it, too. I'm convinced I was on the right track — if there is another big accident, perhaps there might be another tightening up."
Early this month, Morris went to a military equipment exhibition, trying to interest still more MoD men in his truck. While the Merc has proved completely reliable, apart from one battery failure, the drop in its market value compared with new is almost too alarming to contemplate. Who wants a two-year-old 13-tonner built for carrying six tonnes of explosive?
Morris concedes that he made mistakes, particularly by spending heavily on the basis of potential work rather than firm commitment from customers. But he had more than his share of misfortune, too, and if he'd had his truck on time he might have made it — the galling thing is, he may never know.
by Jack Semple