Deliverance has been granted

deliverance n. rescue, freeing; Ashbourne-headquartered company which specialises in prompt deliveries in the Dublin area.

Jim Rabbitt was the man who established Deliverance Ltd. 15 years ago. Had he seen the epic John Boorman survival film of the same name? The one with Burt Reynolds, John Voight, Ned Beatty and a couple of gay mountain men in it? Did the ‘squeal-like-a-pig’ scene live in his memory as it did in many others? Did he name his company after that unforgettable flick? I was sure he must have. I was surprised, therefore, to hear: “Actually, I hadn’t seen the film and I wasn’t even aware of it at the time - but a lot of people have asked me that question.”

Yes, you can always rely on the journalists at IRISH TRUCKER to think up all those obvious, run-of-the mill questions. And then some. Luckily, Jim Rabbitt is one step ahead. “I got the name from a customised vehicle in the Hotrod magazine,” he elaborates helpfully. “I saw it when I was a young fella and I remember thinking it would be a great name for a delivery company. I kept a mental note of it, just in case.”

And sure enough, in October 1985, Jim set up his own business and attached that most fitting of monikors. It was almost like pre-arranged fate, although anyone who’s taken the brave step of setting up their own business will tell you that vision and courage have more to do with it.

In the beginning, Jim ran one van from his home in Ashbourne. Gradually, he built the business up. “Expansion came mainly through the people I worked for,” he reflects. “As they grew, they had more work for me and put more demands on me. So, I grew with them.”

He had a second van on the road within seven months [“I had too much work for one van but not enough to justify two, so I then had to go looking for more work and I got more customers and then grew even more - and so on”] and had built the ‘fleet’ up to three units within 18 months of set-up. Growth led to growth and today Deliverance Ltd. has a “mixed bag” fleet of seven vehicles.

The growth was almost unavoidable! “Yes, there were a lot of knocks at the door,” admits Jim. “There were even people we delivered to who got to know us from our vans going through their gates on a regular basis. We talked to some of them and that brought us even more business. When your face is seen and your name is known, people will be interested in doing business with you.

“Particularly if you are seen to be carrying yourself well and doing things properly. I have a good bunch of lads working for me, who behave well and are very mannerly. This is very important and has no doubt been a factor in bringing in work. In any line of work or any walk of life, it’s really important to give a good impression.

“I feel that, because of the nature of work they’re involved in, drivers can be undervalued at times - but I see them as the most important asset in the company. Like everyone else, they have wives and families and lives outside their work. They’re not robots. They may be happy enough in their work but it’s obvious that nobody goes to work for the sheer love of the job. My motto is to make it as pleasurable as possible for all concerned and I like to see everyone working together as a team.”

The Deliverance fleet - two 7.5 tonne IVECOs with tail-lifts, one 18 tonne IVECO with tail-lift, two Renault Masters and two Fiat Ducato vans - is pretty much reflective of the nature of work the company does. Jim is keen to stress that they are “not couriers” but provide a carrier service in and around the city, be it small or larger loads.

He continues: “90% of the work is in Dublin. We don’t do a scheduled service into the country . . . we’ll only go down the country when an existing customer asks us to do so. Staying in Dublin suits me down to the ground because it means the mileage on the fleet is relatively low and it also means that if one of the trucks does get a tip, the damage will be minimal because you’re likely to be only moving at 15-20 mph. It also means that everyone is home with their families within an hour of the last delivery, as opposed to making the last drop and then having to drive for three or four hours to get home.”

Deliverance Ltd. handles all dry goods. Its main customers include Easons Wholesale Stationery in Crumlin, Acco Rexel (stationery manufacturer and supplier). SportsCat (agents for Puma sportwear). Irish Goodwill Products (calendars, promotional goods etc.) and Datapac (computer consumerables such as inks, cartridges and papers).

“A lot of the people we deal with have no transport of their own and basically contract the whole transport side of their business over to us. We then run a standard schedule for them, more or less sticking to the same routines on a daily and weekly basis. Because it’s a pattern which repeats itself day after day, we know exacly what the demands of each run are, what the potential obstacles are and how best to overcome these. The fun starts when all the companies get busy at the same time - and that’s the very time when you’ll have a driver out sick!”

Jim employs a staff of eight. His son Barry manages the 3,000 sq ft warehouse (fully racked for pallets) and also acts as a relief driver. Does the proprietor ever drive? “As little as possible,” he quips. “I’ve been out a lot this year. We do our deliveries at set times to the same people every day, so if I have a driver out any day, then cover has to be provided. Barry is the first line of back-up, then it’s me. I try to only have one guy on holidays at a time but the situation does arise where we’ll have more than one driver out - unfortunately!”

Prior to establishing Deliverance Ltd., Jim worked with a company doing nationwide deliveries, as a driver for three years and then as Transport Manager.

His plans for Deliverance are modest and practical: “To try to stay as small as possible and still make a comfortable living and keep the customers happy. I don’t want to increase the fleet just for the sake of it. I’ve had offers. But I measure success by other means - how much leisure time you have and how easy it is to switch off when you’re not working. If the staff go home happy, the customers are satisfied and I have some time off, that’s success. I don’t measure it solely by money in the bank. There’s no point building up a business and then working seven days a week. When that happens, you’re not running the business - it’s running you. My wife Anne-Marie works with me and we like to switch off every weekend.”

Although he is sometimes vexed by the level of traffic congestion in the city, the ridiculous pre-10am parking laws on Henry Street and a lack of loading bays in general, one gets the distinct impression that Jim isn’t going to worry unduly about ‘the way things are’. He’s an easy-going, happy individual with a good work ethic but also a belief in taking time out to actually live.
So, no career-making exclusive for Your’s Truly then . . . it appears that world domination is not included amongst Jim Rabbitt’s list of priorities after all.