1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
THE ROUTE MASTERS
Page 49
Page 50
Page 51
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Tim Maughan meets an operator who has invested heavily in double-deck trailers, and reaped the rewards.
"Pulling power comes
in the orm o 38
44-tonners an a
Double-deck trailers are specialist bits of kit:no wonder you don't come across that many of them. However, we travelled 35 miles west of Birmingham to meet an operator who runs 100 trailers— including 13 double-deckers. in the first two years of running its double-deckers,Allscon, Shropshire-based Maiden's ofTelford has dramatically cut down on mileage. "We've saved 2.2 million miles; equal to 3,100 road journeys a year," enthuses MD John Maiden.
The firm uses double-deckers to carry stationery products but it also involves itself in other markets, such as sugar beet transport, Consignments have changed over the years. "Maiden's of Telford was established by my grandfather in 1931," he explains. Maiden's father took the company reins which, in turn, were passed onto John Maiden in 1987."We started off as a coal merchants, and then we did agricultural work. With time, we diversified into soft drinks and food."
Food and drink currently account for 20% of the firm's turnover.These products are packaged, but the company also handles sugar beet, which is hauled in bulkers from within a 50-mile radius of base.
The beet is picked up from local farms120,000 tonnes of it in a season —and taken to British Sugar's nearby Allscott plant. HGVs drop the beet from mid-September through to March, but the company's contact with sugar does not stop in springtime.All year round, drivers haul consignments of bagged sugar from the site, which is fully palletised.
Pulling power comes in the form of 38 44tormers, and a pair of 7.5-tormers, When Maiden contacted CM with a view to being featured in our pages, he cited the stationery contract; then he brought our attention to the louble-decker fleet.
These trailers were bought specifically to landle the stationery items.The stationery ompany specialises in prompt deliveries to ;chools and offices, and it provides more than 3ens and paper. "We also carry coffee, toilet :olls, and flatpacked cupboards and desks," xplains general manager Shaun Bowen. "If they order before 6pm the stationery is ;uaranteed to be with them the following day," -eports Maiden.
Vloving stationery objects 3owen adds: The stationery company's main ?..DC is in Telford. From there, we deliver to heir 16 distribution centres."
The stationery company has its own van feet, which drops the goods to the customer. 'We're in our sixth year with the stationery," &Wen reports.
This contract, along with its national scale and TT pressures, is a considerable undertaking. io we wonder if he was sceptical about ;ntering such an agreement in the first place: 'No. This was something that we were already amiliar with; we used to drop tiles across the UK, so this type of work was familiar to us."
"If the customer does not get the stationery in time, they get it free. We have 14 doubledeckers on this work, and all of them are double-maimed. I think this is the way forward.VED, insurance, and so on is expensive, but with two drivers we can stay one step ahead of the pack."
A pair of Class 1 drivers also lessens the impact of the WorkingTune Directive. Maiden strategically places semi-trailers at customers' bases, which means that a dormant curtainsider can be loaded on site, ready for traction to arrive.The fifth wheel is soon engaged and the truck can be promptly away.
Maiden himself was pounding the streets in April, when he ran the London Marathon.We met him just two days after he had completed the course."I couldn't have done it without the staff, who have been great," he says."I had time off work to train for the race."
He completed the course in 4hr 13min "which is quite acceptable for a guy who is 6ft 4in tall", he smiles.Tluough sponsorship from customers, suppliers, staff and family, Maiden's run raised £16,500. "Overwhelming," is how he describes it.
When we visit transport offices, we can usually detect a favourable atmosphere. And at Maidens, the camaraderie between staff and boss seems to be particularly strong. And having found its niches, Maidens of Telford is obviously flourishing.
Maiden chooses to reward his staff for their dedicated service and, aside from a pat on the back, there is nothing to beat cash to express thanks. He has injected a El 00,000 bonus into his drivers' collective annual pay packet.
By the end of this year he calculates that the firm's total road miles will have dropped by more than 20%, thanks to the double-deckers. Maiden says its vital to keep customers content — all the more pertinent when you serve a small number of major clients. -We have three main customers which equate to half our turnover," he explains.The remainder of business is generated by hauling for a variety of regular customers.
Forty trucks, Maiden suggests, is the perfect fleet size for a family operation: "This is a good figure; above that the company is thrown into a different category."
Get into warehouses
Many transport firms are propelling themselves into the warehousing world nowadays; this company has been storing customers' goods in its warehousing accommodation since 1983. Goods are stored on a short, or long-term basis These days, Maidens has 3.250m of warehousing space, 510m2 of which is devoted to workshop facilities.
The firm has invested in a truck washer, which cost £85,000 to install ;it began operations on 1 May.
Equipment like this earns its keep, he says. Three years ago a motorist noticed one of his immaculate artics on the M62.The driver happened to be operations manager of a too( company. Impressed by the gleaming truck, he decided to give the firm a try, made contac and a working relationship began which continues to this day.
Maiden returns to the subject of his beloved double-deckers. As good they are. In says, "when you have low density and lots of weight, you need a trailer behind a trailer. This is where our European competitors hay got the better of us.
"You have also got to reduce downtime, when the vehicle is not operating.A lot of wha we do could be done during the night. I would like to see more firms utilise the night hours."
But, hours and trailers aside, he is adamant that operators must have an appetite for the industry: "You must be hungry for the job." •