Logging is big business in the Hawke‘s Bay, but this sector has had its ups and downs in recent years. One company, R&L Beale Log Transport Limited, has weathered the storm against all odds and has proved to be one of the most respected log transporters in the area.
A lot of people – before logging got really busy – didn‘t like newbies on the scene. A lot of them said we wouldn‘t make it, we were idiots for doing it. But we‘re still doing it and doing it better. When people tell you that you can‘t do something, it makes you dig your toes in,” says Ray Beale, as he explains his journey in setting up his company. It‘s a statement that speaks to the grit and determination with which he and wife Louise have approached logging in the Hawke‘s Bay. Having grown up around trucking, driving with dad Trevor as a youngster before getting into the cab for numerous operators over 15-odd years, Ray started the company four years ago. That wasn‘t always the plan, though.
“The plan was always to own a truck,” Ray smiles as he puts the emphasis on the word ‘a‘. He simply wanted to jump in his truck in the morning, do some logging and then head back home in the evening. “We‘ve now ended up running 20 of them,” he continues. Eight of these belong to the company itself, three of them to Trevor (who, the Beales mention, has been unwavering in his support of them and the business), with the rest belonging to owner-drivers. Louise adds that they weren‘t prepared for such rapid growth. “But we had to roll with it,” she says, explaining that it wasn‘t her plan to work for a trucking company either, let alone own and run one.
“I always said, you either have to have one truck or 10 trucks – if we stuck with just a few, we‘d lose contracts to bigger companies. So it came to a point that we really had to grow,” Ray continues. The owner-drivers themselves have been crucial to the rapid success of the company. “We‘ve only really taken on people who have been good to us; it works both ways,” says Ray. Louise adds: “We‘ve had to help each of them to get into the role, though nobody helped us into it when we started. All we expect in return – from everyone in the company – is loyalty, honesty and hard work. Ninety percent of the time we‘ve gotten that.” One driver (who‘s quickly moving his way up the company ranks) who can attest to the Beale‘s way of doing things is Ryan Newsome. Born and raised in Napier, Ryan began working for the company three years ago.
“Ray‘s not afraid to take risks; he does everything with thought. Smart business management. Everything has a motive behind it and the company has evolved enormously,” he tells me as we head out of the company‘s Napier depot in the latest addition to the R&L Beale fleet – 01KW – and head for a skid outside Dannevirke, around 120km away. While the fleet is a mix of Americana at the moment, Ray is currently working on standardising it, and both he and Ryan agree that you can‘t beat a Kenworth. 01KW is a Kenworth K200 8×4 fitted with the usual X15 and Roadranger combo, with logging gear by Kraft Engineering. Ryan‘s been driving it for about three months now and says it laps up the short but hard ks typical of their operation. “It‘s not easy running,” he says.
Photo: Trailer made by Kraft Engineering. Central reflective flap made by Ray.
“The brand sells itself,” Ray says. “Mark O‘Hara at Southpac has made things easy for us. We love dealing with him and we don‘t even want to try anything else. Easton Truck and Marine are the Southpac agents here that service our trucks.” Eagle-eyed readers might notice that one of the Beale trucks pictured is not quite like the others… One of Ray‘s favourite trucks has always been the ex-Lingman Logging Smooth Criminal K200 and when the opportunity to buy it came up, he just couldn‘t ignore it. Changing the livery to match the rest of the fleet wasn‘t even an option. “Smooth Criminal is so iconic that we couldn‘t change it,” he says. Well, other than adding the R&L Beale name to the doors! Part of the reason Beales is standardising its fleet is to portray a streamlined, professional company image. The other part is to attract and retain good drivers.
“Our first truck cost $50,000, but that strategy wasn‘t working because we weren‘t attracting quality drivers. Good drivers don‘t drive shit; they control where they go. The industry doesn‘t have a supply of drivers at the moment, so to attract the good guys you need brand new gear – the truck sets the standard,” says Ray, commenting on how drivers‘ expectations have changed. “I started on an old 350 Foden. That‘s where you started back then. But again, nice gear attracts the type of driver who cares about it.” That goes for young and old, experienced and inexperienced alike. Ray‘s approach is to train up the younger guys. That‘s exactly what he did with Ryan – who he helped get into the game with but a green class 5 to his name – and a few others to date.
Photo: Pretty soon the Beale fleet will be a sea of blue K200s – except for the ex-Lingman Logging Smooth Criminal, which Ray admits was a purely emotional purchase.
Louise explains that the company is very ‘anti-negativity‘ and that they took the decision recently to introduce company values (loyalty, honesty, respect and pride), which, she says, went down surprisingly well with the drivers. To its credit, the company has had a very low turnover of staff in its first few years. “We‘re determined to make it work, we‘ve sacrificed so much and still do,” Ray says. He reckons there‘s been a bit of luck on their side, but Louise thinks it‘s a little more profound than that, mentioning Ray‘s work ethic and good support from the team, including the health and safety and insurance companies they deal with. “We want to be that company everyone likes, down to the loader drivers.
Ray has a way of keeping good relationships and we have to have a good attitude.” She‘s especially thankful for the help of Jessica Brown, the company‘s admin manager, who has been with the company for the past two years. “Jess is the backbone of the day-to-day running of R&L Beale. We couldn‘t do it without her,” says Louise. One of the systems the company has implemented to better its operations was fitting IVCS DriveCam cameras to the trucks along with EROAD. “When we installed them, the drivers had an education session; knowing we only see footage if it‘s triggered by bad driving made them feel at ease with the decision,” Louise says.
Photo: The latest addition to the R&L Beale fleet is a far cry from the company‘s first $50,000 unit.
Photo: Ray and Louise Beale with the 2019 Mitre 10 Mega Ride in a Truck Day people‘s choice winner, 01KW.
While he reckons cameras are a must-have, Ray says that installing EROAD in the trucks was a turning point in the business. “EROAD is a boon, the best system. It helps us with tracking services, RUCs, driver hours, location, overspeed reports, and more. And their support is brilliant. One of our drivers, Aaron Boswell, is one of the top EROAD drivers in the country,” he says proudly. Having built up its customer base to more than 20, it‘s clear R&L Beale is a major local player. Going forward, Ray would like to get the company-owned fleet up to 10 trucks (“definitely!”) and he has the ambition of expanding to versatile units such as log decks and timber decks. For now though, the company is concentrating on updating its fleet. “New tech entices good drivers and requires a lot less maintenance,” he reiterates. Like the parents of a high-achieving child (they have two of their own, Sophie (13) and Kaiden (9)), it‘s clear the Beales are proud of what their business has been able to achieve in such a short space of time.
In fact, something they‘re most proud of was 01KW winning the people‘s choice award at the 2019 Hastings Mitre 10 Mega Ride in a Truck Day. On that point, Ray adds: “We don‘t stop the drivers from taking their kids for a ride; they do big hours and it also encourages the kids to get interested in trucking. It‘s a shame how a lot of companies won‘t let kids go for rides with their dads.” So, things might not have gone according to the original plan, but Ray and Louise say they wouldn‘t dream of changing it. “We‘ve met some great people and made good relationships,” says Louise. “This is the path we chose and we are using it to better our future and our kids‘.” “Failure‘s not an option,” adds Ray.
Photo: The blue Beale loggers cut a distinctive figure in the green forests.
