Frigo-Tranz revolutionise their industry

The haulage of refrigerated goods is a specialised area in the industry as the trailers must be properly kitted out for the transportation of frozen goods. Frigo-Tranz has commissioned trailers which give them the edge over their competition.

As the likes of meats and other goods must be hauled at different temperatures, it restricts haulier from carrying groupage and often means extra runs or the use of different trailers.
However, Frigo-Tranz Ltd MD John Murnin was involved in the development of a specially made trailer that allows the haulier to transport a partial load of hanging meat in one compartment, while also carrying fresh and frozen goods at a different temperature in another area of the trailer.

Frigo-Tranz Ltd was established in 2006 and is based in Castlewellan, Co Down and although the company is still in its fledgling years, John and his team have built up quite a large customer base in a short space of time.
However, John has been involved in the haulage industry for the past 13 years and he revealed that he took a big gamble when initially setting up the company, especially in the cut throat business of the haulage industry.
“I was an auto electrician before I set up the business. I knew a good bit about refrigeration having worked on trailers and decided to take the bull by the horns and start off on my own,” said John.

“It is not the easiest of businesses to make a living in and one wrong turn could result in a company folding. You have to take a cautious approach to every decision and especially in terms of expanding too quickly. You just never know what’s around the corner.”
John and his staff of five transport refrigerated goods all across the continent and part of their operation comes from various meat plants in Ireland, UK and Europe where the haul hanging meat all over Europe.
However, John revealed that the foot and mouth scare in England last year had a negative effect on the company, although Frigo-Tranz came through the situation.

“The foot and mouth scare in England really put us on the back foot for a while and we had to rely on hauling other refrigerated goods during that period. Thankfully, we came through and we are now back on track and as busy as ever.”
John stressed that a reliable staff played a huge part in the success of the company and admitted that knowing there would be no problems with drivers was a weight off his shoulders.

“The lads I have working here are very reliable and experienced, so I’ve no fears that the job won’t be done on time. Obviously, on occasions, something unforeseen will crop up, but I’m fortunate to have such a reliable staff.”
Frigo-Tranz operates five trucks and John’s preferred choice of make is Scania and Volvo, which he feels are the most reliable on the road at the moment.

“They are the trucks that are most maintenance free and I do a lot of the servicing myself, but for any of the bigger jobs, the trucks are sent to a local mechanic here.
“I like to keep the trucks fairly fresh and that also helps cut down on maintenance, as you can imagine, we clock up a lot of mileage working on the continent. Two of the trucks ar ’04 and the other three are ’06, and we will probably update the older models this year.”
Specialising in meat refrigeration means that John needs specialised trailers and he touted an idea with a few manufacturers about designing a trailer that could do dual temperature work and one company decided that it could be done.
“Gray & Adams took up my request to build a multi-temperature trailer with a unique specification and as I had dealt with them before, I knew that I would get what I wanted.

“I realised that if we could find equipment that could do dual temperature work, that would allow us to go back to meat transportation when needs be, it would definitely give us the upper hand in the market.
“Other manufacturers were willing to build me a trailer but not to my requirement. They suggested either a twin temperature trailer or a meat railer, but told me that what I was asking would not work. I always knew that it was possible and with a few suggestions by Gray & Adams, I was able to purchase a trailer that now fits my operations needs exactly.”

John is experienced enough to know that making plans for the future have to be met with an air of caution and although he is not against expanding in the future, there are no concrete plans in place.
“We will wait and see how the new trailers go before deciding on whether to expand any further. As I said this is a cut-throat business and it’s hard to plan ahead, you learn that along the way.
“In saying that we’re fairly busy and if things keep going the way they are, we’d be happy enough. Business is good and we have a good working relationship with our customers and the main priority is to continue that in the future.”