When Will Shiers visits a container haulier in the east of England, he‘s in for a pleasant surprise.
When New Zealand Trucking editor Dave McCoid asked me if I could write a story on UK operator Scotts Haulage, my immediate reaction was “who?” “My friend Dawn Mansfield knows the boss, Yvonne Scott, and she says they‘re a great company,” says Dave, who goes on to explain that it‘s a container haulier, based in Kettering, Northamptonshire, which pulls boxes out of the Port of Felixstowe on England‘s east coast. If I‘m honest, this information doesn‘t exactly fill me with optimism. You see, not only have I not heard of the company, but experience also tells me that container hauliers in this neck of the woods don‘t run overly inspiring kit. You see the east of England is as flat as a witch‘s chest, in fact the highest point is just 300m above sea level, so clearly you don‘t need a lot of horsepower to drag half-empty cans around.
‘They‘ll be running a handful of rolling roadblocks, probably tired DAF CFs or underpowered Renault Premiums‘, I think as I pick up the phone to call Scotts Haulage. “Yes, we‘d love to do a story for New Zealand Trucking,” says Yvonne. “In fact it‘s good timing as our new Volvo FH16 will be on the road soon.” I was in the car and driving up the A1 quicker than you can say ‘750 horsepower‘! OVER THE YEARS I‘ve met a lot of people who like trucks, but I don‘t think I‘ve ever encountered anyone quite as passionate about them as Yvonne.
“I call them my ladies,” she says, describing the fleet that she presides over. “To some people motors are just pieces of metal, but not to me.” What really impresses me is that not only does she do an incredible job of running a 15-strong truck fleet, but she also finds the time to help out in her daughter‘s beauty salon. “I certainly don‘t do it all alone though,” says the unassuming Yvonne, who concentrates on the financial side of the business these days. Stepson Mike, who she says “eats and sleeps motors”, takes care of much of the day-to-day running. Like his dad, Gary, Mike also drives for the firm. “The two of them are such a huge help, both on the road, and when helping out with other aspects of the business,” explains Yvonne.
“Running this company really is a joint family effort.” Yvonne‘s interest in haulage started at a very early age. “My father was a lorry driver, so it‘s always been in my blood,” she says. So, when in 1991 husband-to-be Gary said he was interested in buying and running his own truck, Yvonne was only too happy to play a major role. “Gary wasn‘t keen on getting his operator‘s licence, so I decided to do it instead,” she recalls. “I borrowed some money from my dad for the course, and then lied to the bank in order to buy a truck.”
Photo: Gary (left), Yvonne, and Mike make up the formidable family team behind Scotts Haulage.
She remembers how the bank manager, a friend at the time, initially refused her request to borrow money to buy a lorry. He told her to come back and tell him that she wanted the money to buy a car instead, and that‘s exactly what she did. A few days later she and Gary were the proud owners of a very big, secondhand Swedish car – a Scania 111! “So that was our first motor, but it certainly wouldn‘t be our last,” says Yvonne. “While Gary was happy being an ownerdriver, I wasn‘t. I love motors and I wanted another, and another and another. Once we had more than one motor Gary just said, ‘you carry on love‘, and I did.” While that initial Scania served Scotts Haulage well, it would be the last one in the fleet. “If I‘m perfectly honest, I‘ve never really understood the fascination people have with Scanias,” says Yvonne, who admits to being “Volvo through and through”. While she acknowledges that V8 Scanias “do sound better than Volvos”, that‘s where the compliments end.
“Volvos are more comfortable and are a far prettier motor, in fact the prettiest of all,” says the beautician. “Your eye just gets drawn into it,” she declares, pointing out of the window to the new FH16 750 sitting outside. “And our grey livery is just the icing on the cake. It‘s just lovely to look at, isn‘t it?” I wholeheartedly agree. Up until very recently Scotts had only ever purchased used trucks, and since the early 1990s almost exclusively from the same local Volvo dealer. “We tend to buy three-year-old motors, some outright and some on finance,” explains Yvonne. “We normally buy two at a time – sister trucks.” But there have been exceptions to the rule. In 2015 the company purchased a new Volvo FH, and then, of course, there‘s the flagship FH16, which went on the road in July. This takes the total number of Volvos in the fleet to 11, consisting of the FH16, five FH4s, four version 3s and a solitary version 2. “She‘s our spare motor,” explains Yvonne, referring to the older truck. “We use her when there‘s a motor off the road.”
Photos: Volvos make up the bulk of the Scotts Haulage pack.
There are also some imposters in this Volvo enthusiast‘s fleet: four DAF XFs. “We needed some motors in a hurry, and they were the right price. It was a quick fix,” says Yvonne, almost apologetically. “Our standards slipped a bit with those. I know that sounds bad, but we really are Volvo through and through.” It‘s not so much the badge on the grille that bothers her, more the fact that unlike the rest of the fleet only one of them has been painted in Scotts Haulage‘s familiar grey livery. “I wish we could afford to get them all sprayed tomorrow, but we can‘t,” she says. “They cost £6000 (NZ$ 11,400) a motor, which is hard to justify on secondhand trucks.” Mike has a friend who does vinyl wrapping, and although this option would work out significantly cheaper than paint, both son and mum agree that the quality isn‘t as good. So, the DAFs will remain in white.
The reason why their appearance grates on her so much is simply because the rest of the fleet looks so amazing. The drivers put a lot of effort into making sure that the trucks look as good as possible. “They want everything on them,” says Yvonne, “and they‘re always asking ‘can I have this and can I have that?‘ It‘s tough, because they aren‘t cheap.” “I start off by looking on eBay,” adds Mike, who not only pays for most of the extras, but often fits them too. But there are some positives to spending money on the trucks‘ appearances, namely that it improves the haulier‘s image. It also gives the drivers something to be proud of, which in turn helps with staff retention, which is presently a huge problem in the UK. “We‘ve got a fantastic team of drivers working for us, and it‘s great to reward their hard work and loyalty with decent motors,” says Yvonne.
Photos: The company normally keeps vehicles in the fleet for 10 or 12 years – but that doesn‘t make replacing them any easier for passionate Yvonne.
While she is incredibly enthusiastic about the trucks, the company, and the industry in general, she does admit that it can be tough. Scotts Haulage solely carries out container work. “The delays can be crippling,” she tells us, explaining that it‘s not uncommon for a driver to sit at the port for four to five hours. The Chinese New Year is a particularly challenging period, with a far lower volume of containers needing to be moved. “We do all our work for one company, and I really can‘t fault them. Sometimes they park up their own motors in order to keep us working,” says Yvonne. Another issue is the age of the fleet. Scotts normally keeps its trucks until they are 10 or 12 years old, by which time they have covered well over one million kilometres. Yvonne says they start to haemorrhage money when they get to this age, and certainly keep the workshop busy. She says her head tells her not to keep them for so long, but her heart has a very different view. “I‘d keep them all if I could, and never sell any of them,” admits Yvonne. “But that‘s just me. I‘m passionate about them.” Scotts Haulage rents space in a yard and would like property of its own. “We are aiming to have our own land, but it‘s difficult for smaller companies like us,” says Yvonne. “The problem is being able to afford it. Any spare money we have goes into the motors. That‘s how it is really.” Another issue is diesel theft, which is another growing concern in the UK. “We have been hit a few times, and it costs us between £1500 (NZ$2860) and £2000 (NZ$3810) a time,” declares Yvonne.
But, while running a small haulage firm can be tough, it‘s clear that Yvonne loves what she does. She tells us that one day she‘ll hand over the reins entirely to Mike. “I‘m so proud of him,” she says. “And I know that, when the time comes, he‘ll do a fantastic job.” But I sense that won‘t be any time soon… “I just love the motors,” she tells me. “At the end of the day I touch them and I say ‘do me well ladies‘.” And so far, they have.
