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With road transport "a hard industry to be in", the man behind GA Transport has diversified into truck-mounted forklifts, picking and packing and even residential property — and business is
booming. Tim Maughan reports.
Grant Arnold, MD of GA Transport, knows as well as anyone that margins are tight in road transport, with customer bases that ebb and flow like the sea.To counter these factors, he has built up a business portfolio that extends beyond taking goods from A to B. What's more, Arnold refuses to put too many of his eggs in one basket."We spread our work," he explains,"so any one customer does not account for more than 30% of our business-.
He started out in 1989 with a Mercedes-Benz pickup which he used to handle small consignments for larger operators and the business flourished. By the mid-1990s he had 14 trucks under his command; today, there are 40 trucks in the fleet including 25 tractor units. Most are owned outright with a handful on contract-hire agreements. Extra vehicles are brought in on spot hire during peaks in demand.
GA Transport operates from a four-acre site inTipton, near Dudley,10 miles west of Birmingham.
Arnold lakes us on a tour of the compound, showing us the electrically powered gates and 00,000 worth of electric fencing that indicate how seriously he takes security in what is known as a road haulage crime black spot. It was clearly money well spent as he "has not had a security issue since putting it in four years ago. It's very important to have this security; all over the country, freight and highvalue vehicles are seen as highly nickable. It also helps with the insurance premiums."
This imposing perimeter protects a busy multi-tiered operation."We de-van containers," he reports."In a busy period, we deal with up to 25 containers a week." In customers' goods are stored for months.
Steel is a common consignment:a 44tonner can handle a 28-tonne load.The steel is transported in curtain-sided trailers with opening roofs for ease of loading and unloading. In the past, many customers demanded specialist low-slung trailers to carry steel which were poorly suited to any other loads. The curtainsiders are far more adaptable. They are made by SDC Trailers and cost £2,000 more than a standard curtainsider.
"The steel is taken to window manufacturers, or directly to bridge-building and other construction sites," Arnold explains. "We also carry steel for mezzanine floors in factories."
GA Transport turns over in excess of Lim . With profits in road transport so small -"We haven't got big pots of gold; road transport is a hard industry to be in"-Arnold casts his net beyond basic load carrying, not least by investing in residential and commercial property: Margins in haulage are tight but, mixed with our property portfolio, it enables us to make a decent profit."
Growing empire
The bricks-and-mortar empire has doubled in size over the past two years: "We see ourselves as a property developer in addition to being a road haulier," Arnold explains. Profits from property stand at 25-30%; transport profits are a respectable 5%.
Another thing that distinguishes GA from much of the competition is the use of truckmounted forklifts. Arnold runs four Moffett Mountys which can take two-tonne payloads (see panel )."They can be uncoupled in two minutes, but ballast must be put in the front of the trailer to balance it," he reports. The forklifts attract customers, because it means they do not have to invest in their own.
The technology doesn't come cheap-each forklift costs £20,000 plus £1,400 for the mounting kit — but Arnold did his sums before reaching for his chequebook: "We use them all year round; our charging structure covers [the cost of] the machine, and a small element of profit.They're all on contract maintenance so we don't have to worry about servicing them."
Our tour of the site moves on to the warehouse, which offers 2,780m of storage space. We notice the railway tracks run into the buildings, but this isn't a multimodal site. "Years ago, this site was used to dismantle trains and MoD vehicles," Arnold explains.Those facilities are long gone. but Arnold has invested in substantial infrastructure of his own,including dropped loading bays to facilitate smoother moves: "When we transfer products, they're only six inches off the floor."The bays, which jut outwards from the warehouse, cost £50,000 to construct. But they avoid the risk of consignments being damaged as they are pulled off the back of a truck.
Accounts manager Netty Cooper says the firm has four warehouse staff, whose duties include picking and packing. Like Arnold's commercial and residential portfolio, valueadded services such as these boost profits.
Arnold has an insurance policy against had debt. His credit terms extend to 90 days,but the policy will reimburse him for had debts minus a £10,000 excess." It keeps the bank manager happy and helps me sleep at night," he smiles.
Like everyone else in the industry,Aniold has had to come to terms with the Working Time Directive. While some operators waited to assess its effects, he took on extra drivers and warehouse staff before the WID got under way.With a larger workforce and new overnight warehousing service_ the lirrn took the directive in its stride.
Secure parking As our tour nears of the extensive site nears its end we come across some wagons bearing other firms' liveries.This,Arnold explains, represents yet another profit stream: offering a haven for other operators' trucks.
We meet owner-driver Neil Davis, who regularly parks up at Tipton.-It's a secure site," he says. "This is my official operating centre. and on average I park here two nights a week."
Davis is not alone:that comforting fence protects an impressive range of CVs.Arnold reports:"We can accommodate up to 100 vehicles here in addition to our own fleet.They range from vans to artics, and we cram them all in,back to hack." •