The heavy haulage specialist

Armagh-based Derryhale Transport specialises in plant and heavy haulage. Established in 2000, the brainchild of Dwight Cairns offers a solution for every haulage job. Naturally, Irish Trucker decided to take a closer look at this exceptional company�

The company adopts its name from the Derryhale Road townland that sustains it, just off the main Armagh Road out of Portadown. Dwight Cairns established Derryhale Transport at the turn of the millennium, having worked in the industry for a decade prior to then. Derryhale Transport specialises in plant and heavy haulage/machinery transport throughout Europe.

Like many successful entities, Derryhale boasts humble origins. Dwight started out small and built the company up painstakingly, investing a winning combination of hard work, long hours, vision, focus and backing it all up with strong customer service. By offering customers solutions they could depend upon, he has developed his business impressively in the eight years since its inception.

The founder/proprietor began with just one rigid lorry – a Volvo FL7 6x2 beaver tail – and added a second unit six months later. Today, he operates eight units and one rigid. The fleet comprises a mix of Volvo and Man, while the newest addition is a Scania. A new escort van has also been introduced to the fleet to accompany wide loads. Unlike many other companies involved in shifting awkward or oversized loads, the Armagh company goes a step further by organising and planning its routes and providing an escort vehicle.
The business is developing at a healthy rate and four new trucks will be added to the fleet in 2008.

There are 22 high-quality, customised trailers in the fleet at present. The vast majority of these are Faymonville semi-trailers; the newest member of the trailer fleet is a brand new 4+2 spine-bed low-loader complete with new-generation Pendle axel. This state-of-the-art trailer increases Derryhale’s capacity even further, ensuring that there is no job they can’t handle.

The image and appearance of the fleet is paramount and always has been. “We keep the units as clean and fresh as possible,” says Dwight. “The oldest model at present would be an ’02 and we’re constantly updating. It’s important to project the right image, so we wash the trucks and trailers ourselves on a regular basis. We also take a five-year maintenance contract with each truck we purchase, which makes sure all the units are in perfect working order at all times.”

The nature of Derryhale’s work is exclusively low loader, moving large items of plant and machinery on a large scale - throughout Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe. One of Derryhale Transport’s biggest clients is Fintec Crushing & Screening – the Ballygawley-based Exporter of the Year for whom Derryhale delivers screeners and crushing equipment all over Europe. “Screening equipment and plant would be our main line of business,” Dwight confirms.
Derryhale Transport has also diversified into worldwide deep sea shipping and the MD is keen to stress that he has the capacity to complete virtually any heavy haulage job anywhere in Europe. His experience and outstanding track record speaks for itself in terms of punctuality and safety.

The spacious and ideally-situated Derryhale Road premises consists of a three-acre yard and a one-acre storage area. From here, a crew of twelve is employed, all of whom know the business inside-out and are highly-trained in all aspects of plant/machinery transport as well as boasting keen customer services/interpersonal skills.
Heavy haulage isn’t an easy business to break into. The units are invariably prohibitively expensive and each purchase represents an unbelievable capital investment. The company founder recently invested £340,000 sterling in one truck and trailer combination, so it’s clearly not a business for the meek!

Dwight overseas a reliable and fully-trained staff, all of whom carry all the requisite site safety cards. Health and safety is a prime consideration in this area of expertise and Derryhale Transport has all the relevant health and safety policies firmly in place, providing peace of mind to both employees and clients alike.

Plant storage is offered on short-term or long-term contracts and the purpose-built site has full loading and offloading facilities which can handle any load. The right tool for the right job - coupled with rigorous planning and attention to detail - has always been a key component of Derryhale’s success.