C arl Richardson always dreamed of being his own boss. At
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one time he thought he might go into retail, specialising in menswear. It was perfectly logical: "Well, I'm a man, and I wear clothes," he reasoned. In fact Richardson ended up running a fleet of car transporters. This decision was also logical: "At the time I was driving the latest hi-tech car transporter for the Toleman Group..." Looking back, he probably made the right choice.
Richardson left Harwich High School aged 16 to work in the shipping industry: two years later he entered road haulage with a job at Dependable Deliveries, a local firm working mainly for Vauxhall Motors.
Having gained his HGV licence he joined the Toleman Group as a driver and stayed there for 12 years. eventually driving an innovative car transporter equipped with a computer-controlled loading system—he even appeared with it on the Tomorrow's World television programme.
But it was not enough of a challenge. In September 1993 Richardson took voluntary redundancy from Toleman and set about planning his future. "I asked Toleman if [t would sell me a vehicle," he says. "After all, if you're laying off the driver, you don't need the lorry! It said yes. and I spent the next few weeks pondering. In 1993 the economy wasn't in great shape, but I was competent and hard-working, so I took the plunge."
Transporter
The transporter he bought "was an old F-reg Nem drawbar" says Richardson. But I managed to coax another two years out of the old girl...as an owner-driver you treat your vehicle a bit more sympathetically."
Behind the wheel of his own vehicle. Richardson started touting for business trading as Carlson Vehicle Transfer. Toleman had been essentially a one-client operation, working almost exclusively for the Ford Motor Company, Richardson decided his new company could not afford to put all its eggs in one basket: "In the first month I must have worked for about 20-30 people: auction houses. delivery companies, exporters—all sorts. But I never had any doubts I had done the right thing. I just felt that the effort I had been putting in for Toleman, although well rewarded, could have been for my own benefit."
Even today, Carlson's biggest single customer con
tributes less than 20% of company turnover. "I learned a lot of lessons at Tolman," says Richardson. ''One of them is not to get too heavily involved with one customer, because if they pull the plug you're done for" Richardson needn't have worried. Within six months of launching the business he was adding a second vehicle. "It makes a huge difference,' he says. "Customers and rivals both regard you differently when you start running a second vehicle. And you have to change yourself: you become an employer, and that brings extra responsibility."
Growth in the early days was slow, if steady. To begin with. Richardson spent all his time on the road while his father helped out and did all the paperwork from home.
In 1996 Richardson got tired of running the business from his cab and set up offices near Harwich docks. The following year he made his big push. "I'd got up to six vehicles and decided I needed someone to help run the business," he says. "That's when I approached Steve Reynolds. At that time he was depot manager for a big firm locally, arid responsible for over 50 vehicles on a daily basis. When you start a business like this, you can make a go of it on your own, but you can't make it grow on your own. You've got to have someone you trust to help you carry it through. Steve is my lieutenant: we work very much as a team."
Following Reynolds' arrival as operations director, Carlson embarked upon a major expansion programme. Over the past 18 months, the Carlson fleet has tripled to 18 specialised vehicles—mainly Volvos, with a few Scanias and Mercedes. Most of the transporter semis come from Transporter Engineering of Gosfield, near Braintree in Essex.
Carlson's clients now include a number of blue-chip manufacturers and it is also running vehicles to and from the Continent. "Barriers are falling and were looking for new challenges," says Richardson. 'We've got the tunnel, so the English Channel is no longer a good enough reason to ignore the Continent."
Cross-Channel
But, like every British haulier, Carlson is well aware that cross-Channel business flows in both directions, and continental operators are all too well aware of the potential of the British market. "They're coming over here with full tanks of cheap diesel and threatening our livelihoods," he says. Ile realises they are simply taking advantage of circumstances and, rather than sitting at home and moaning about it, his response is to tackle them on their own territory.
Richardson's strongest criticism is for the attitudes which have allowed continental hauliers to gain the upper hand: If 1 could change just one thing, it would be the British attitude to road transport," he says. "It's always seen as a social evil, but it's the lifeblood of our economy." He believes British hauliers will never be able to compete on equal terms with the continentals until attitudes change. Meanwhile "I'm just going to concentrate on my own business and give as good a service as possible." he says.
Carlson Vehicle Transfer is still a new enough company for Richardson to remember what it is like as an owner-driver. He retains a strong belief in being able to respond instantly to a customer's needs, and still gets behind the wheel when the need arises. "I believe it's important to keep in touch with your drivers," he says. "I'd never like my drivers to think they couldn't phone me up whenever they need to." And occasionally he can be found washing trucks on a Saturday: "I like to see those 18 gleaming vehicles lined up in a row," he says. "I get a buzz out of it." And that's something he wouldn't have gat looking at a rack of suits.
by David Taylor