L ife is rarely straightforward. Just as things seem to be
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going smoothly, obstacles surface from nowhere. What separates the men from the boys is the strength to press on, to persevere in the face of adversity. For those with a sufficient dose of character, setbacks can actually be beneficial. They give you the opportunity to bounce back, fighting fit.
Axtra Transport, based in Shoreham, near Brighton, is living proof that such spirit can pay dividends. Mel Weller, the firm's managing director has taken more than his share of blows since he started out as an owner-driver in 1988. But when you contrast a single HGV 12 years ago with a varied fleet of 28 commercial vehicles today you know he must have done something correctly. I started driving an artic for a mushroom producer," says Weller. "I was driving up to Hartlepool thive times a weak, delivering the mushrooms."
In those days he supplemented his pay packet by working extra hours as a taxi driver. Then the man behind the mushroom firm suggested that Weller invest in his own truck. Interestingly, the chap had the tendency to pronounce the word "extra" as "axtra''. To cut a long story short, Weller bought a Leyland Roadt.rain and named his fledgling company Axtra Transport—an unusual name for a haulage firm to be sure, not being basaj on a surname or place, or any other word in the English language for that matter. At that time Weller rented accommodation at the premises of a van hire company in Portslade, just along the coast from Shoreham.
Weller soon bought a second truck, primarily used for timber transport. The wealth of mushroom and timber work saw the Axtra fleet expand to seven trucks. But unfortunately the mushroom work dried up—and with it Axtra's staple business. The mushroom firm got its own fleet and used another haulier. But this made me more determined; I had worked hard to get these vehicles, and I knew that I would continue in haulage," he says.
Promotion
The magnificent fleet of seven was reduced to four. But Weller got on his bike and found the work, and frankly admits that getting out of the cab and into a suit to publicise the firm was nerve-racking. "I approached local customers, one of whom was a vacuum pump manufacturer, I had been a truck driver, but then I had to go and promote the company," explains Weller Crucially, ha did his homework, studying the local business Infrastructure, gauging what sort of equipment potential customers would require. Then he would approach the client. Things fell into place. The vacuum pump manufacturer offered him work in 1992.
"It was a verbal agreement, but it gave me a real sense of achievement," says Weller proudly. He ran a tractive unit and box traikw, taking the pumps up to Crawley. "All the time we were getting known; once the hal had started rolling our profile grew."
Expansion followed, and the firm Inwnted in a fleet talkwed to the local market, buying 17 and 7.5-tonners, as well as vans. "We knew there was a lot of work locally," lie says.
Weller was correct, and today there is work aplenty—and home is where the heart is. Many customers are within a stone's throw of the Axtra