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Off the back of a lorry...
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From unassuming beginnings in a pub, Doug Baker has built up a thriving container haulage company that embraces modern methods of working, which are helping it see light at the end of the recession.
Words: iludrina Ainson / Images: Wm Lee
You may not expect a UK-based container haulier to have its origins in a New Zealand pub, but that's exactly how Containerlift came into being.
Founder Doug Baker was planning his retirement in New Zealand when he started chatting to a man in a bar who ran a transport operation. "We were talking about people falling off the backs of vehicles, particularly open containers," explains Baker. who had previously run a transport company at Stansted airport where one of his own drivers had fallen out of an open container.
"The guy asked me why we would unload a container when it was on the back of a lorry. I replied: 'How else are you meant to do it?"
So the next day he showed me the container-lifting equipment his company used. Not only was it fitted to the trailer, it could also lift a 30-tonne container. IN FOCUS Baker went out with one of the drivers to see how the lifting equipment worked in the field. He also talked to customers who said it was much easier to unload a container when it is on the ground.
"I thought it was a great idea that would take off in the UK and visited Steel Bro, the sidelifter manufacturer in New Zealand. I returned to the UK and it said it would send me one to see what interest there was in the UK."
Baker says he was fairly advanced with plans to move to New Zealand when the shipping documents arrived for the sidelifter. Instead he set himself up as an agent to sell the equipment in the UK rather than move and that was 15 years ago.
Joost Baker, managing director of Containerlift, says his father spent a bit of time trying to sell the idea in the UK, but adds: "It's a very different market in the UK."
He adds: -Dad made the gradual switch from just trying to sell them to actually operating them."
Demonstration time
Doug confirms he set himself up as an owner-driver.
"It was great fun running the one sidelifter after my time running a big fleet of trucks.
"By running the sidelifter. I demonstrated how it worked to customers and potential buyers. I also found I was making money. Perhaps that showed that while I was not very good at selling them, I was good at operating themr After a while, Doug decided to buy a second and then a third sidelifter and employ drivers to use them. He admits he spent some time pioneering this idea in the UK.
Luckily for Containerlift it did not catch on quickly with other container hauliers that were more focused on high-volume container movement.
Joost says one of the company's biggest group of customers is the shipping lines. "We have some good relationships with them and are offering them a fairly unique service. A couple of years ago we wanted to develop those relationships further and started to work on a fleet software management system."
Specific software
The system has since become a standalone piece of software called Truckcom (see panel) and Containerlift has set up a separate company to develop the software side.
"The conventional container haulage business is so price-driven that we wanted to offer our customers something extra to add value to them.Truckcom has subsequently become a strong selling point for us" Doug says the system enables the company to closely monitor its drivers' performances. "They can do the walk-round checks using a PDA, which gives us immediate information about any faults they may find.
"We can also see what they are doing because we can monitor things such as the position of the accelerator, whether they are braking, how much fuel they have and what their fuel consumption is. We can even see if they are going over the speed limit and if they are overdue a break."
He adds the system is particularly useful when a driver gets delayed because the customer can see immediately that there is a problem and his container is running late.
When CM met Containerlift in December last year, the company said it had seen little impact of what is now a recession. "We have seen some slowdown, and normally I'd think it was a natural blip," says Doug. "However, we have been pushing for new business and people are committing to work with us" He adds there has been some slackening off in demand, but customers still want jobs done within a couple of days. "Lead times have come down and we can generally do jobs within a couple of days rather than four or five."
Joost adds that despite the recession, the company still has a lot of confidence in the future. "One of the reasons for this is the software business. We are getting a lot of enquiries from hauliers about it. Because it enables them to measure so many things, they are able to make objective decisions. They want to use it to save money."
The same goes for Containerlift. "It helps us keep a handle on our costs," explains Joost.
Doug adds that in some cases the enquiries are from hauliers that have contracts with shipping lines that use Truckcom. "As the haulier is contracted to use the software on the trucks that work on that account, they decide to use it across their whole fleet."
Most of the major shipping lines call on Containerlift's sidclifters at some point and to ensure it can cover the country with its 22 vehicles the firm has bases in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Felixstowe and Tilbury. It also has lifters located at the inland container terminal near Birmingham.
Independence
Unlike the regular drivers, those employed on the lifters work on an independent basis and return to base just two or three times a year. They remain in contact with head office via Truckcom and phone, though.
Joost says the sidelifter operators often have to be more than just a truck driver. "They are frequently sent to a facility relocation or a site where loads of containers are arriving at the same time and they have to act as site manager. So they need to be reasonably switched on."
While most of what Containerlift does is road-based, it is also keen to get involved with the rail freight sector. There seems to be a lot of activity in the sector, according to Joost, but it takes a long time for anything to come to fruition. Containerlift has seen some interest from rail operators looking to set up small rail terminals that get freight closer to the final destination.
"Rather than investing in expensive permanent container-handling equipment, our sidelifters can he brought in as and when a train comes in and they don't need a specific surface to operate on to unload the trains."
While many operators employ ex-drivers in their transport office. Containerlift has taken a different approach: it employs graduates. although rarely ones with any transport experience. Doug says this policy has brought a lot of rewards because they are always looking for ways to fine-tune the operation.
Foreign workers
Like many hauliers, Containerlift struggled to find HGV drivers during the recent boom years and turned to Polish drivers to meet demand. "To make sure this policy worked we also employed two Polish graduates in our transport office. They have helped enormously with the performance of our 20 Polish drivers and have also helped us ensure our PDAs,Truckcom and all other driver communication is available in English and Polish.
Most of the haulage work the company does is in the UK. This can be from small businesses that want one container on the ground to 1111 up over a period of time, to the shipping lines. However, it sends the sidelifters into Europe approximately four times a month. Containerlift is planning to boost its involvement in deep-sea shipping during 2009. Doug insists the haulier is not trying to compete with the shipping lines or agents. "We get a lot of small customers because they want to get a container from the UK to the Far East."
Joost takes up the description, saying previously Containerlift could organise the UK part of the business, but would have to leave the deep-sea shipping element of the work. "We had so many enquiries that we decided to offer the complete service," he says "If that means finding a partner at the other end to put the box on the ground then we will do that through our contact with Steel Bro." To manage this new part of its business, Containerlift has employed a professional shipping manager. While this business has only been in operation for 12 months, Joost reveals it is one of the key focuses for this year.