Low Loader services makes it mark january 2007

Low Loader services makes it mark

Low Loader Services Ltd is a family-run business specialising in general plant haulage and plant hire to the industry. Here, managing director Jim Fleming gives us the lowdown on what the busy Dublin-based company is all about.

Jim Fleming (right) with driver Thomas Clements

Since its establishment in 1988, Low Loader Services Ltd has earned a reputation for reliability, efficiency and a total dedication to customer service. The Rathcoole, Co. Dublin-based company is a family-run business which specialises in general plant haulage as well as plant hire to the sector. Low Loader Services Ltd can boast such reputable companies as Roadstone Contracts, SIAC Paving and Lagan Asphalt among its extensive list of customers.

ï¿½We have built up a loyal customer-base over the years and appreciate all the work that comes our way,ï¿½ says Low Loader Services Ltd founder and managing director Jim Fleming. ï¿½We provide a safe, professional and prompt service from our base in Greenogue Business Park in Rathcoole. Iï¿½m pleased to say that weï¿½re expanding all the time and our work is taking us further down the country. A native of Terenure, Jim has many years of experience in the industry. He worked as a truck maintenance fitter with British Leyland in the UK for six years before returning home to Ireland and buying his first low loader in 1979. He set up Low Loader Services Ltd nine years later in Leixlip and while the company still has a presence in the Co. Kildare town, Rathcoole has become the hub for the business. ï¿½I would consider Rathcoole to be our headquarters at this stage. Our yard and workshop is located there, although our office is still at 42, Newtown Park, Leixlip,ï¿½ he explains. Jim employs a staff of nine, including his two sons Neal and Graham who always seemed destined to follow him into the business.

Father-and-son Jim and Neal Fleming of Low Loader Service Ltd

The staff consists of truck drivers, machine operators, fitters and office personnel. Initially, Low Loader Services Ltd was in Jimï¿½s words ï¿½a one-man bandï¿½. For a number of years, he operated one truck and low loader. But realising there was a huge demand for his services, he decided to expand and the company evolved into what it is today. Low Loader Services Ltd now provides general plant haulage for machinery from one to 40 tonnes. The company uses Brimec and Andover Plant bodies for smaller plant and Nooteboom low loaders for the transportation of larger machinery. Most of the machinery that Jim transports is related to the industry. So itï¿½s hardly surprising then that most of his clients are involved in road building and repairs.

ï¿½The likes of Roadstone Contracts, Lagan Asphalt and Kilsaran are good customers of ours. We move a lot of machinery for them,ï¿½ he says. While most of Low Loader Services Ltdï¿½s work in concentrated within a 60-mile radius of Dublin, the company also transports to and from the UK. Jim has noticed a shift in work from the Dublin area to the midlands and south where major new roads and motorways are being constructed. ï¿½We experienced a bit of lull this year because most of the big road contracts in Dublin are now finished, but Iï¿½m expecting things to pick up in a big way next year with the construction of the new M6 to Galway, the new Portlaoise to Cashel route and the next phase of the Dublin to Waterford route.ï¿½

Graham Fleming, Neal Fleming, Jim Fleming and Thomas Clements with the new HD 90 roller available from Low Loader Services

Low Loader Services Ltd is the sole transportation company in Ireland for LOXAM (LOXAM are in the access equipment rental business, who are a French based company, one of the biggest rental companys in Europe. Other valued customers SIAC, ENuzum, ESB, Wingplant, GMP Plant Hire and John Craddock Ltd. The plant rental end of the business has experienced significant growth over the past three years. Roadstone Contracts is just one of the many companies to avail of both services. All of the equipment for hire is specially adapted for the industry. Among the specialist plant and equipment available for self drive hire are: 3 wheel dead weight rollers; 10 tonne double drum vibratory rollers; 40 tonne compaction rollers, stone and soil 50 tonne compaction water and fuel bowsers up to 40,000 litres. Others available on request.ï¿½

Companies such as Roadstone and Kilsaran have their own tarmac equipment, of course, but when they get very busy, they hire additional equipment from us. Due to the nature of the business, the equipment often has to be transported in the early hours of the morning. ï¿½If the contractor is starting a job at 7 oï¿½clock in the morning, we have to have the machine loaded off the lorry and ready for use,ï¿½ Jim notes. In fact, night work has become part and parcel of the business, especially where work in Dublin is concerned. ï¿½If the ESB, for example, are carrying out repairs in the city centre, it usually happens during the night and we have to have the cherry pickers or whatever equipment they need there for them.

Low Loader Services Ltd specialises in general plant haulage and plant hire to the road re-surfacing industry

Sunday used to be the day for that type of work, but not since it became the big shopping day for a lot of people. ï¿½Also, during the summer there are big GAA matches taking place in Croke Park and it can be very difficult to get in or out of the city.ï¿½ Jim makes no secret of his frustration at the ever-increasing traffic problems in Dublin and cannot see the situation improving in the coming years. ï¿½Itï¿½s an absolute nightmare for a business such as ourselves. And I canï¿½t see it getting any better in the next five years or so. The Port Tunnel wonï¿½t make much of a difference. Maybe when the Eastern Bypass is finished there will be some progress,ï¿½ he says. Looking to the future, Jim is hoping to expand his plant hire service and may take on more work in the UK.

ï¿½With the amount of road building thatï¿½s going on at the moment, there is a big demand for our hire service and this is something we intent to specialise more in. With the Olympics taking place in London in 2012, thereï¿½s going to be a huge amount of construction and that should create new opportunities for us,ï¿½ he concludes. For more information about Low Loader Services Ltd, contact - Jim: 087 2569785 Neal: 086 2569785 Graham: 087 9152351 or at info@lowloader.ie.