A professional service

As it draws close to its tenth anniversary, Sligo Haulage & Distribution Ltd. enjoys a solid reputation on the back of providing a thoroughly professional and reliable service to a strong core of customers. The company has made rapid strides since its inception and Irish Trucker decided to visit its Tubbercurry base to gain an insight into the success story being composed by founder Stephen Mullen.

Stephen Mullen has 25 years experience in distribution and haulage

Professionalism is at the very heart of Sligo Haulage & Distribution. It seeps through every pore of the company’s being, reassuring customers and ensuring a steady flow of business. This has been the way since Stephen Mullen established the company in October 1998, taking advantage of a niche in the market for a quality provider of haulage and distribution solutions in the north west.
From the smallest job to the biggest, every service provided by Sligo Haulage & Distribution carries an indelible stamp of professionalism, the mark of quality, the bond of dependability and, of course, a seal of approval from discerning customers/clients, who have nothing but the utmost faith in the reliability and transparency of Stephen Mullen’s self-made operation.
But this professional service would only be possible with the help of Stephen’s dedicated staff.

Stephen Mullen with some of his staff members in Tubbercurry , l/r: Martin Crean, Paul Little, Liam Walshe, Mel James, Stephen Mullen and Chris Weinand

Stephen formed Sligo Haulage & Distribution nine years ago and the fledgling firm quickly garnered a reputation for providing a top-class service. The company grew steadily but this growth has accelerated over the past two and a half years, since the operation relocated to brand new premises in Tubbercurry. That move proved to be an inspired one – business has doubled during the intervening 30 months.

As the name suggests, the company specialises in the haulage and distribution of dry goods and groceries for a range of customers. It also provides a warehousing service for some customers, from its hub in the north west.
Including vans and trucks, Sligo Haulage & Distribution runs a fleet of 25 vehicles, distributing into counties Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford and Galway, predominantly from Dublin and Drogheda.

Stephen uses his own mechanic for maintenance and servicing

Stephen operates a mix of trucks, including Scania, DAF and Volvo, choosing his purchases in accordance with his needs and whatever market climate prevails at any given time. He always acquires vehicles best equipped to carry out the task at hand. All the trailers in the fleet are SDC. In the courier side of the fleet, the vans are mostly Mercedes Sprinters and Volkswagens and Transits.
In terms of maintenance and servicing, Stephen uses his own mechanic in Ballina – Padraig Egan – who looks after the requirements of his trucks and trailers. “The vans normally go to the main dealers and most of our vehicles would be still under warranty anyway,” he notes.

At present, there are 35 people on the books of Sligo Haulage & Distribution. This number has grown significantly since the business relocated to a new 24,000 sq ft facility in Tubbercurry - a central location which has dramatically improved the company’s capabilities. The hub is integral to the distribution aspect of the business as it enables the short-term storage of goods. “When you’re involved in distribution, a good hub is vital. You can’t have one without the other,” the owner says.

Stephen Mullen has seen business double in the past 30 months

Stephen’s experience of the sector has played a key role in the success this far of Sligo Haulage & Distribution: “I have 25 years’ experience of distribution and haulage in the north west and I know how to service the industry. I know what it takes to run a haulage company and the level of service that customers demand. We have never lost a customer. Any customers who have left Sligo Haulage have done so by my choice - the service we provide has always been second to none.”

Like many others featured in this magazine, the proprietor of Sligo Haulage & Distribution feels that hauliers in Ireland are not afforded the respect and protection they deserve. Though the haulage sector is the very pulse of the buoyant Irish economy, it is largely overlooked and taken for granted, with the government being the biggest culprit. It’s getting harder to make an honest living in the haulage sector, where subsidies are at a premium, yet the reality is that our nation would grind to a halt if the industry went to its knees.

Stephen Mullen says that a haulage contractor gets nothing easy in the current market place

The supreme irony of the situation has not gone unnoticed in Tubbercurry. “It’s a very tough business,” Stephen shrugs. “We aren’t getting any rate increases but the cost of fuel has gone through the roof. Costs and overheads keep going up at an alarming rate but there’s no room whatsoever for hauliers to increase their rates. The cost of fuel, insurance, trucks and wages is serious now and it’s almost impossible for hauliers to survive. Everybody else is getting richer but our margins are coming down.

“I could possibly expand this business and provide even more employment but I’d be losing money at current rates, so there’s no incentive for me to do so. Rates just aren’t there any more and things have been tightened up so much that it’s hard to make a steady profit. Drivers are losing interest in the work as much as the haulier as narrow margins and higher costs means its harder to absorb wage increases e.g our fuel bill in the last 3 months has risen by 1200 euro per week.

These costs can no longer be absorbed by the industry without some form of subsidy by the Government.
“There’s nothing out there for a haulage contractor unless he goes out and gets it for himself. There’s no support from the government or the public. It is hard to get both the government and the public to realise how vital the haulage and distribution industry is to the day to day running of the economy of Ireland. We are the last link in the chain in providing goods to the consumer. If I went to set up a business doing anything else, there would be no end of grants and subsidies available, but people don’t appreciate our industry.”

Despite this, Sligo Haulage & Distribution has done extremely well in the face of adversity, defying the odds to emerge as a much-valued service provider in the space of nine years. As stated at the outset, a professional outlook has been instrumental in everything the company has achieved. The same values should ensure that the company – and its customers - share a vibrant future.