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Two sides of the same coin
Page 16
Page 17
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Despite the recent comings (and goings) of various trailer makers, Boalloy continues to hold an impressive share of the UK market. Brian Weatherley talks to the Cheshire-based manufacturer about the benefits of buying Italian chassis, getting operators to pay a premium for Tautliner—and what the future holds for M&G.
• When Boalloy recently revealed it was buying chassis from MerkerYshima (the precocious "new kid on the block" in European trailer manufacturing) a few self-appointed pundits added one and one together—and came up with three. "Now that Boalloy has access to cheaper Italian-made chassis, where does that leave M&G" they wondered. The inference was that Boalloy no longer wanted its wholly owned chassis maker.
Boalloy MD Gerry Brown is having none of it: 'They're totally wrong—M&G is a bloody little powerhouse! We bought it as a security to guarantee our own chassis supply seven years ago and it was one of the best moves we ever made. PreM&G we could see they [rival trailer makers] were getting more and more involved in bodybuilding. That's why we bought it."
It's official: M&G will remain as Boalloy 's "bespoke" chassis manufacturer—not only for curtainsiders, but for coilers, step-frames and skeletals too. "It does all the things Merker wouldn't want to do," says Brown.
So why tie up with Merker in the first place Brown has a simple answer: "Volume. What we wanted was a 'fleet' chassis. M&G is a great com pany but it's not a big player. It's building 30 a week; around 1,500 a year. We could 'number up' a bit and get a couple of hundred more a year, but they've never been able to supply all our needs.
"If we were to build 2,500 bodies we've got to be able to find another 1.000 chassis." Enter Marker, with the chassis that M&G can't provide.
In fact Boalloy always meant to bring in an outside trailer, says sales and marketing director Jim Gibb: "We had a big order for Stobart on Samro, and they looked to be the ideal partner. We also looked at Tirsan, but then we started to pick up vibes from Italy."
Those vibes quickly turned into discussions, culminating in Boalloy ordering around 30 Marker chassis a week. The concept is simple: Marker pi vides low-cost chassis in the numb( that Boalloy needs; Boalloy builds Tautliner body on them and gets a co effective ticket into the 'big-fleet curta eider market. "It's allowed us to get int lot more conquest deals because price and volume," says Gibb.
But why not simply ship in a compi( curtainsider from Merker and save more money—especially consider the current sterling/Euro exchange re!
Because, says Brown: "They'd ht given us a 'Euroliner', and manufactur( offering a Euroliner in the UK have nes been successful. People didn't buy I Euroliner concept." To emphasise I point he invites CM to look around yard: "You won't see many 4.0m trail( out there, but there's plenty up to 4.7i Gibb points out that the Merker Tautlir is a UK design, Boalloy has had six demonstrate running in the UK sMce August, a they've been getting rave reviews. wouldn't expect them to knock the bo but the chassis have come throt
itty much unscathed too," Gibb lolls, With two chassis to choose
Boalloy wants to offer customers a al branded" Tautliner. Like-for-like, a rker Tautliner wdl be around £500 aper than an equivalent M&G Hiner, But Gibb stresses: "We're not ing this is the cheap one or devaluing value of the Merker and Tautliner." Brown adds: "The chassis is a corniity. Once you've specced your runt gear it's still a commodity, but the ly makes the difference. You save but what you do get is a Tautliner.
y want the Tauttiner badge that's the I of approval." Mind you, getting cusiers to pay for that badge isn't getting easier. Gibb says: 'Where we used to nand a premium that gap is closing." 'Hauliers are more sensitive than ever to market prices, he remarks: "Price is no longer taboo. Rental companies spread themselves out and operators have tried everything chassis wise." But he concludes: "There are still a lot of Tautliner aficionados around."