Staying ahead of the posse

The haulage business may be a thriving industry these days but competition has seldom been more intense among hauliers nationwide. Joe McGowan of Castlebellingham is revelling in the challenge presented to him and his company.

In the dog-eat-dog world of commerce, it pays to make sure that hard-earned custom is retained. Profligacy is one thing but carelessness is down right suicidal.
The haulage business in Ireland is one which has seen the cake getting bigger but yet more firms nibbling away at it. Each company at the dining table is eager to gain enough sustenance to survive the long haul.

In this respect, the team at Rocha Rentals Limited/Rocha Logistics Limited is prepared to meet the best the opposition can muster, head-on. That’s as long as the battle is on a level playing field as company Managing Director Joe McGowan explains:
“There doesn’t seem to be any decline in the number of so-called cowboy operators working away in the haulage business and they, as much as anything else, make life harder for bona-fide hauliers like ourselves.
“It is something I would like to see the authorities tackling in a big way.

Significantly, Joe is not at all impressed by the effort made by the Irish Road Hauliers’ Association in regard to clamping down on illegal operators in this country.
Although a member of the IRHA, the Castlebellingham, Co. Louth-based haulier believes that the organisation to which he subscribes has to prove to him at least that it is doing all it can to put cowboy operators off the road.

There are more cowboy operators now than ever and the IRHA needs to make the eradication of these type of people a priority and not pay lip service to the problem.

“Overall, I have been disappointed in the way the IRHA has looked after the interests of hauliers like me. I had to haul to Wales during the farmers’ strike over there and when I was relieved of my cargo of beef by the farmers and then watched it float away on the water, the IRHA weren’t too quick to come and help me out,” adds Joe who is also a member of the UK-based hauliers’ support organisation, Contact UK.

Brutally honest and obviously a man who doesn’t stand on ceremony, the Belfast-born businessman would also like to see the IRHA working harder at seeing to it that rates are improved for hauliers countrywide.
“Rates haven’t been increased for years. While hauliers’ expenses and overheads have gone up steadily over the years, rates have remained static. Every haulier, not just me, would like to see an improvement in the rates they’re getting and I think the IRHA could do more in that regard too.”

Although still only in his mid-thirties, Joe has amassed some 15 years experience in the trade and he has worked hard at building up his businesses which he established in 1992.
Ever since eyeing a window of opportunity to go it alone in the trade, Joe has refused to look back. Securing the next job and making sure that it is completed to the best standard imaginable is what drives him on.
His company is mostly all about refrigerated containers and the delivery of boxed beef - and assorted other foodstuffs such as eggs and fish - from various points in Ireland to the UK.

Including such high-profile customers as the AIBP Group, Sam Dennigan and Silvercress Foods among his clientele, the former hired-hand (driver) has seen his business grow and mushroom from the time of its inception.
Indeed his fleet has expanded from one new DAF and fridge at the company’s foundation to the point where Rocha Rentals Ltd and Rocha Logistics Ltd boast seven 144 topliners and ten fridges - three of them meat railers and the balance refrigerated boxes.

Joe is a busy man but one of the secrets behind his success is that he never takes his work for granted or, most importantly, his customers.
“The old saying that you’re only as good as the job you carried out last time around is something that I take very much to heart.
“A lot of the work we have secured has been got off the back of other jobs we’ve carried out.
“I feel we have worked hard to ensure that we benefit from a lot of repeat custom. Our track record and reputation for quality, reliable work has stood to us in many instances when we have gone looking for contracts.

“We have also found that an increasing volume of work has been coming our way because some existing client of ours has recommended us to someone he knows which is the best form of advertising we could ever have.”
Not that Joe and co. are prepared to rest on their laurels. In fact, the people behind the success to date of the two sister companies in Castlebellingham are already planning to consolidate the service and facilities they can offer their expanding list of customers.

Within the next few months, Joe hopes to have a state-of-the art tracking system - complete with mobile phone capability - installed in each of his trucks.
“Having such a system should help us greatly in relation to achieving a high degree of customer satisfaction as well as ensuring that we don’t lose any business - literally!”

Looking ahead to the future, Joe will also be seeking planning permission to relocate his business - lock, stock and barrel - just a short distance away from his current headquarters in Castlebellingham.
“We’ll still be based in the village but we’ll have the advantage of having a brand new cold store which will be able to house some 250 pallets frozen and the same number of pallets chilled.

“With the cold store in place, we will be able to diversify more into the groupage end of the market. At the moment we’re mostly handling single loads but the availability of the cold store will give us other options.”
Seems like Joe McGowan and the rest of the team in County Louth have it well and truly sussed!