MEAKIN TRANSPORT
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auliers with low-loaders in their armoury can carry just about any piece of plant, When we speak to David Blaker, director of Meakin Transport, based in Morley, Leeds, he explains that the firm has this equipment. But wandering around the depot the nature of the company's work is there to see: a selection of fork-lifts stands in the balmy May air.
Meakin Transport has the capability to haul many types of plant, but instead it concentrates on just two consignments—fork-lifts and powered access equipment. CM has met plenty of hauliers who specialise, but this seems to be specialisation at its most acute.
''Ple pick up fork-lifts from anywhere in the UK, although most of this work tends to be in the Midlands, the South-West and the South-East," says Maker. To the layman, the world of fork-lifts may seem a little obscure. But it's a big, albeit largely hidden, market. Imagine the thousands of warehouses, depots and supermarkets in the UK. There must be a fair few fork-lifts toing and froing behind the scenes, and they are constantly on the go—well, most of the time. But when they have broken down, when they are hired red, or indeed when they have to get to their owners in the first place, Meal& Transport steps in.
"It is very busy at Christmas; this is when we pull the stops out," says Maker. "But it is busy the rest of the year as well." Eighteen trucks (14 tractive units and four rigids) crack on with getting the fork-lifts from A to B. Such consignments range from one to 24 tonnes. "We try to have a 24-hour response time, that is getting a broken-down fork-lift from a customer to the dealer," Blaker explains. This applies to the powered access equipment as well. Work is multi-pickup and multi-drop. "We can get up to seven fork-lifts on a trailer" he says.
Significantly, haulage is just part of the equation. What sorts the men from the boys is the ability to get loads the size of fork-lifts onto the trailers. Ramps, winches, fork-lift operator qualifications and tap quality drivers are the chief requirements, and Meakin Transport fits the bill, "We have 19 trailers at the moment, including lowloaders and specialist fork-lift-carrying trailers," says !Maker. "We also have a nine-tonne tail-lift on a stepframe curtainsider. This Is a very busy piece of equipment, and is valuable for the more awkward fork-lifts."
Most trailers are fitted with a winch so brokendown fork-lifts can be hauled on to them; otherwise Meakin staff do it themselves. "Our drivers tend to have some form of fork-rift driving qualifications, or an access operator's licence," he explains. "We have got a pretty skilled bunch of drivers." The expertise necessary to do the job means subbies don't get a look In, even when business is hectic. Blaker says: "We don't use subcontractors because drivers need to be skilled in the handling of fork trucks: they are expected to load and unload them."
As any haulier knows, breakdowns are a fact of life, and are of course unexpected by their very nature. The same goes for fork-lifts, which means Meakin Transport's business is essentially on an ad hoc basis. Meakin wheels roll when a fork-lift's don't, "We tend to get our work from long-standing customers," he says. "The security of a contract would be nice, but customers want to remain quite flexible."
Contracts may be few and far between, but Blaker is happy with his firm's work with fork-lifts and powered access equipment. "We have developed a specialist knowledge which means we can survive in such a competitive industry. It could always be more profitable—but name a haulier who doesn't say that."
At least one thing is certain. As long as goods have to be shifted, fork-lifts will be wheeling around depots. And as long as buildings get built and tall objects require maintenance, the future of powered access equipment looks rosy as well. This is all good news for the team behind Meakin Transport.
Will these industries, and the haulage connected with them, ever vanish? "I doubt it," reflects Maker by Tim Maughan