0 wner-operator Brian Maltby's motto is "Don't put all your
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eggs in one basket." And he certainly lives by it. It's not unusual for him to carry rare theatrical costumes to Ireland one day and dog food out of Norfolk the next. Or it could be band-saw blades to Cornwall and generators and compressors to John O'Groats.
And all in his Iveco 4,910 long-wheelbase that is dose on clocking up L000,000km—a van which he describes as his second love. The vehicle is kept in immaculate condition inside and out.
"On a Saturday it takes me four hours to wash it down and clean it. It's a labour of love, and it's still got the original engine, gearbox and paint," says Maltby.
He started FB Maltby Haulage, based in Batley, West Yorkshire, in 1989 with a grant from the Enterprise Allowance Scheme after to years off work. While working as a Class r driver in 1980, he broke both his ankles in a fall while sheeting up a glass-carrying truck. His attempts to win compensation came to nothing.
"Through the Enterprise Allowance I was able to buy a Ford Escort 55 van to start the business. The rules were that if the business failed within the year, you had to pay the money back. But through hard work I am still going," says Maltby.
Fair rates
One of his first customers, Burkett Cutmaster of Cleckheaton, which makes band-saws and blades, is still with him. He takes loads of blades and machines all over the UK and credits his clients' loyalty to charging a fair rate for the job.
He says: "I never overcharge people, I provide a good service and they all come back to me. For example, from home to Glasgow I charge only fr3o. And if I run from Cleckheaton to Swansea, I charge just £2,00."
After the Escort van, Maltby moved on to Ford Transits, and as business grew he acquired a D-reg 19oL twin-wheeler. Up to this point all his vehicles had been secondhand, but with business still on the up he decided to buy a new Leyland Daf 3.5 twinwheeler Hi-Cube, against his accountant's advice. "It cost about L20,000," says Maltby. "I had that for about a year and put 120,000 miles on the clock. But it let me down so much with fuel pumps cracking that I divided to sell it."
However, Maltby hadn't reckoned on the vehicle's depreciation. "It nearly broke me completely because of how much I lost on it."
So he reverted to buying secondhand. "I was looking through Commercial Motor and saw a Daily van for sale in Essex. So I told Archbold Trucks in Morley (now Polar Trucks) about it and they said they would send a chap down with a cheque and, if [liked it, they'd keep the cheque."
This was in 1993 and is how Maltby came by his present vehide. The Iveco Ford Turbo. Daily 4910 2.5 long-wheelbase was an exdemonstration model with 98,000km on the clock.
"I had it down-rated to 3.5 tonnes because I didn't want to go on the tachograph," he says. "And as it was a bigger van with better payloads, it brought me a lot more work."
One of his regular customers, a company which made free-standing porches, asked him to make regular trips to Holland. The extra length of the Daily enabled him to carry the 4.2m beams the company used.
A change of management at the company resulted in Maltby losing the work. But this was soon replaced by Norfolk-based Muratechnic, which has him taking compressors and generators all over the UK as well as into Northern Ireland and France. Maltby is still with the company and has its logo on his van.
Another long-standing customer is a theatre costume hire company based in Southend-on-Sea. Maltby says the company
came to him because of his £250,000 goodsin-transit insurance. He takes the costumes, which are very valuable and practically irreplaceable, to theatres in Belfast and Dublin.
Three years ago Maltby picked up a job which also sees him carrying valuable loads. Norfolk-based IRS makes motorway road signs which Maltby regularly delivers to roadbuilding projects throughout the country.
"All the signs are bubble-wrapped and have had no complaints or damage since I have been with them."
Loyalty
Maltby gets all of his work through word-of mouth recommendations or by dropping cards as he delivers or picks up. When he finds a good customer he sticks to them. For example, Burkett Cutmaster has been with him since he began.
But it hasn't all been plain sailing. Last year a company in Norfolk which set him up with regular backloads went bust and left him with a bad debt of '85o. "I was mad because I gave them good service and I knew them well," says Maltby.
Another customer nearer home also owes money, and Maltby has threatened to put the Transport and General Workers Union onto them. But the company has said if he does that he will never get his money. Maltby remains a loyal member of the TGWU, which he says is always there for him if he gets into trouble.
Maltby believes the union will fight for him because it doesn't want to see small operators fold. "If anything goes wrong I give them a ring and they always help me out."
Maltby was involved in a fatal accident in Ireland last year while on the way back from a delivery in Dublin. "It was 2am and it had been raining. Suddenly there was somebody in front of me. They came from nowhere," says Maltby. "I stopped in the length of the van but hit him and the poor lad died on the way to hospital. I'm in the clear. They found that he was stone drunk and on drugs."
The result was a L2,600 repair bill, with the work being carried out by Iveco main dealer Northern Commercials of Brighouse, Yorkshire, a company that has earned Maltby's staunch loyalty. "They are spot-on and look after me completely," says Maltby.
And his ability to keep his vehicle going has earned him respect at the dealership. "It's down to the driver and the way he looks after it, as well as the quality of the vehicle itself," says Brian Tuxford, area sales manager for used vehicles at Northern Commercials.
He adds: We regularly see TurboDailys around the 25o,000km to 300,000km mark but we rarely see them at r,000,000km. Brian's secret is that he drives the vehicle as a commercial vehicle should be driven and not raced and rallied as you get with a lot of idiot drivers."
Maltby's advice to anyone starting up on their own today is: "Don't buy a new van, get a good second-hand one; make sure you are going to get paid; and if you get a good customer, stick to them."