the big eats
Page 45
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Building sites are mucky places, especially after a spell of rain when men, machines and materials wallow in the mudbath together. No one expects to see a clean machine in such an environment. This doesn't mean that users are happy to buy new plant equipment which is grimy. When builders visit dealers they want to view earth movers which are every bit as spotless as their counterparts in a truck or car showroom.
The problem facing Birmingham haulier Chambers & Cook, which specialises in transporting earth moving equipment to Europe and arranges shipping for destinations worldwide, was that these big machines are normally transported on uncovered low loaders to meet the continental fourmeire height limit.
European dealers were unhappy that the equipment required a full valeting service after many hours exposed to the dirt and dust of British and continental roads. Never mind that within days of purchase the machines might never be clean again.
To solve this problem Pat Blackburn, managing director of Chambers & Cook, consulted a number of industry experts. His company has a 25-year relationship with Caterpillar, which manufactures the earth movers in Leicester, so he was keen to provide the right service for its continental customers, The first part of the solution came when Blackburn visited the 1RTE show at Telford last spring, He admired ERF's EC14 low. profile tractor and realised that, coupled to the right trailer, it could provide the answer, Next he contacted Andover Trailers and explained his problem to designer Leonard Fuller. Send me the details of the big Cats, said Fuller, and I'll see what I can do. Working solely from the Caterpillar dimensions in brochures, Fuller designed a low height curtainsider.
Blackburn liked what he saw and ordered two trailers with a pair of ERF EC14s to haul them at around £90,000 a unit. Peterborough bodybuilder Lawrence David fitted the bodywork and the two rigs are now delivering spotless factory finished machines to delighted European dealers, spared the expense and the time of valeting.
Midlands dealer S Jones provided the ERFs, respecced to match the trailers—a normal laden height of 980nun was achieved using revised drive and mid-axle air suspension, a modified chassis design, low height front springs, a low height fifth-wheel package and 295/60 low profile tyres The trailers have a number of special features. The roof slides forward for loading and unloading. As the machines are driven on the wheels sink into adjustable wells which hold the equipment in place and allow the inches necessary for roof clearance.
Webbing
The Cats are held in place by webbing strong enough to contain them even if the trailer goes upside down. Side pillars on the trailer can be repositioned to suit different machines. Normally two Cats are carried per load, grossing at about 18 tonnes. A minimum of four loads, eight machines, go out each week.
In addition to complete earth movers, Chambers & Cook exports Caterpillar components to the firm's worldwide network of factories, including manufacturing plants in the US and Japan.
But what about returns? Clearly, the Cats are only going one way so Chambers & Cook needs backloads from Europe. This problem is neatly solved by a mixture of partnership and subsidiary arrangements on the Continent which supply the Birmingham firm with UK-bound groupage. It has a namesake subsidiary in Belgium and a partnership deal with another operator, MJR, to run depots in Basildon and Paris. in other European countries we have working arrangements with agents," says Blackburn.
The company's fleet stands at 40 vehicles-30 tractor units and 10 rigids—for collection and delivery work, with 70 trailers. An intensive fleet replacement programme is a signal of its confidence that the worst of the recession is over. The new ERF's were bought last September; nine new Iveco Ford EuroTechs also joined the fleet last year and two EuroStars are due to arrive next month. Policy is to replace vehicles every five years. "Since August last year we have been very busy," says Blackburn, "Most of our customers are saying that they feel things are gently moving forward."
It will be good news if this is true of the building industry, on which customers like Caterpillar depend. Plant equipment represents about 20% of Chambers & Cook's work but it has not suffered from the body blows which felled UK construction because the equipment is exported: there has been plenty of pressure on rates, however.
Blackburn grew up in Ireland. How did he come to be boss of a company started by one Harold Chambers at Yardley in 1925, distributing Atco mowers?
The answer has a suitably romantic flavour in Valentine's week, a holiday romance that flared before the holiday itself got properly under way. Blackburn was working as a coach driver and one day young Anne Chambers, Harold's daughter, accompanied by her mother, boarded the coach Blackburn was driving, bound for a holiday in Switzerland. The driver and Anne took a shine to each other and they eventually married.
Harold Chambers asked his new son-inlaw to join the company. A spell in the Inniskillens as a motor mechanic stood Blackburn in good stead in the firm's workshop looking after the fleet of four, fivetonne trucks and later in the traffic office.
Several of his children are in key positions within the company. Paul is transport manager. Chris is shipping manager, Marianne is traffic controller for groupage and Julie-Anne works part-time in accounts.
From a small fleet in the fifties running to London for £16 a load, the company has become an international operation with specialist skills. Blackburn thinks back to days as a coach driver and particularly the day he met his future wife. By his own admission, he has been a lucky man.
Eby Patric Cunnane