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 
NO SMALL
Page 54
Page 55
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
BEIER
JS Haulage is a third-party brewery haulier with its roots as much in the drinks trade as in road haulage. It is thriving on a relationship of mutual trust with a single drinks distributor.
• Running a brewery haulage business as well as two pubs allows John Shipp to see both sides of the drinks trade. His Thontury-based firm, JS Haulage, is the sole distributor for a local, independent beer and soft drinks wholesaler: the two firms have an unwritten contract and have grown together over 14 years.
Although Dowdeswell is Shipp's only customer, Shipp does not feel vulnerable: -We haven't had a cross word in 14 years, which is quite remarkable in business," he says. "As long as the present management is there, we are both quite happy with the setup." The two have no financial stake in each other's business.
After 30 years as a Bedford user Shipp has just taken on two new AWD 10-tonne curtainsiders. Prior to this his acquisitions were two Bedford TI,s in 1986, only weeks before hearing that the manufacturer was to close. It was not easy to opt for a new marque after such a long allegiance to Bedford, he says, and besides, "no other manufacturer rushed to fill the gap left by Bedford."
Shipp's son works in the haulage firm, and his wife runs one of the family's pubs. He began as a dock, farm and coal operator, disposing of his coal distribution business when he bought his first pub five years ago, selling two Bedford 7.5 tonners. "I'd 25 years of being out in all weathers," he says. "I got out at the right time It was just after the miners' strike, and I found a good buyer." Because Dowdeswell is an independent wholesaler all its drinks customers are free houses so their landlords can dictate delivery times to suppliers, who tend to use small vehicles to remain flexible, "While the big breweries make their drops to their tied pubs more or less when they want, and tend to use artics, we have to jump when a landlord asks for one barrel," says Shipp.
"This means many of our trucks have to double back empty." He delivers to up to 14 free houses a day, mostly within a 40km radius of his base near Bristol.
Although the brewery chains deliver beer to their own outlets, Dowde swell sells, and Shipp distributes, soft drinks to tied houses in their
area. Shipp, who often fills in as a relief driver, delivers to his own free house, the White Horse at I3uckover; his other pub, the White Lion is tied to Courage.
The two TLs are flats and run under Dowdeswell's Operator's Licence. Shipp also has an Iveco Ford Cargo 10-tonner as a reserve vehicle; he bought it while waiting for AWD to come up with a 10-tonner. Shipp's vehicles are serviced every five weeks by the local fitter who has handled his maintenance for 10 years.
AMBASSADORS
Most of the runs are short and the vehicles do less than 1,000km a week. Shipp keeps his draymen on the same deliveries, in order to build a rapport with customers. "They are ambassadors for the company," he says. Occasionally the vehicles, which are all double-manned, go as far afield as Cardiff, Worcester and Chippenham.
The drivers like the new AWDs which, says Shipp, have a vastly-improved driveline over the old Bedford TLs. He plans to keep them for eight years. The curtain-sided bodies were made by local bodybuilder Curtis Brothers. He will replace two of his flatbeds with curtainsiders eventually, but will keep one flat as sideloading curtainsiders have access problems at some pubs. Shipp expects to win up to 20% more business when a government ruling forcing tied pubs to take guest beers comes into effect next month.
The big breweries currently have a monopoly on deliveries to their own outlets, but the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report will force these pubs to sell at least one competitor's product. If business does expand, Shipp will probably buy another truck and go back behind the wheel himself. His son Andrew joined the company in the middle of last year after six years' working in a bank. Andrew Shipp has earned his HGV licence and will sit his Certificate of Professional Competence exam this summer; he moved into transport without any pressure from his father, but, as John Shipp says, "it means I can drop out any time I want and leave the running to him".
DISTRIBUTORS
Dowdeswell is one of the largest drinks distributors in the West Country. It buys from major brewers as well as the independents and delivers to free houses. Suppliers include Marstons, Youngers, Ushers and Courage — most deliver weekly, usually an artic-load at a time, though JS Haulage makes some pick-ups from the smaller breweries.
Like his father, Andrew Shipp believes. the flexible and personal service their company can offer landlords is one of its biggest strengths. This, he maintains, is often missing in large brewery distribution.
LI by John Kendall