Across the globe

Before the Celtic Tiger hit this country in the early nineties, emigration was common place among the younger generation as they set about seeking their fortune in lands far afield.

Martin has worked hard to build the business

One such person who decided to try his ‘luck’ abroad was Roscommon native Martin King, who spent over 20 years in the States where he finally set up his own haulage company.
However, having been over two decades away from the Emerald Isle, Martin decided to return home and instead of remaining in the haulage industry, he established Coast to Coast Crushing, which specialises in drilling and crushing rock with the majority of the firm’s work being carried out on road projects, site developments and quarry work.
Martin spoke of his journey from his homeland to the states and the origin of Coast to Coast crushing. He also gave his views on modern day Ireland in what is a fascinating story.

Martin returned to Ireland 13 years ago, he has been involved in crushing ever since, but has been operating under the Coast to Coast name for the past four years.
“Basically, we are mobile contractors that bring our machines to the site and crush rock for the subject requirement, depending on the nature of the job. Often, we would go to quarries where maybe there is refurbishment work taking place or if they are very busy, we would often be called in,” said Martin.

Some of the bigger road projects that the company has been involved in include the Nenagh and Knock bypasses, which saw Coast to Coast crushing dispose of tonnes of rock on both developments.
Martin employs 14 highly trained drivers to operate the machinery and he admits that it is an expensive game to be involved in particularly with the price of machinery.
“We never seem to have enough machinery and are always looking out for more equipment. With regards to maintenance, we have three mechanics working full time and have two vans stocked with parts on the road.
“The staff are well trained and they know their jobs inside out, which is important as they can go to a site and know what to do in any eventuality.

Some of the staff at Coast to Coast Crushing

“The company has been involved in many big projects and we have worked with some of the biggest civil engineering firms in the country including Acheson & Glover, Wills Brothers and Coffey Construction. We are involved in large site development also, which usually sees us come in and clear a site that may be very rocky.”
Martin admits that there has been a slow down in the construction industry, but feels that it may not be as bad as many have been predicting.

“I’ve certainly noticed a slow down in the trade and I doubt it will pick up to the extent that it has been for the last few years, although I do feel that things will even out. The problem is that many of the younger lads coming up have never seen the hard times and they may struggle to cope with this. But the ones that have been in the business many years will manage to come through this.”
Martin feels aggrieved that having to transport his own machinery around the country, he must apply to each council for a wide load permit.

An annual national permit should be introduced to cut out the unnecessary process of applying for permits in each county we travel through. It just doesn’t make sense.
The Roscommon native has certainly seen the good times and the bad as having qualified as a draughtsman with Aer Rianta in the late 60’s, he decided to head stateside and landed in New York where he plied his trade on the buildings for some time.
“On weekends, I use to travel out to jersey to a truck stop where there would be hundreds of trucks parked up and I would spend the day just walking around looking at them getting the flavour of what it would be like to be out on the open road.
“I then decided to become a truck driver and drove all across the states. In 1975, I moved up to Alaska to work on the Trans-Atlantic pipeline, which was basically hauling materials to the rigs and for construction work.
“At this stage I had set up my own company and as the business grew so did my interest in the political side of things as you needed to know how to get things done.”

Martin’s interest in that side of things lead him to become the president of the Alaskan trucking association, a position he is proud to have held.
“It was something that I was very interested in and I was delighted to have been the president during that period. I’d like to think that I did some good during my tenure.”
As expected the trips made through Alaska were not through the easiest of conditions as snow and ice in the winter made conditions very hazardous.
“The weather conditions in Alaska were very surreal to say the least as during summer there was sunlight for almost 24hrs a day, while it almost was the opposite during the winter when the roads would be terrible. Some of the trips could see us travel 540 miles on gravel roads, which was far from ideal.”

Having always had the thought of coming home in the back of his mind, Martin realised that he knew everywhere in the States, but that he knew very little about his home country, which he had left when he was 19-years-old.
“I probably always knew I’d return home at some stage, but just didn’t know when. I made the decision to come home to Ireland to a country I really didn’t know.

“When I came back I had to start from scratch and it was not easy, but I had enough experience to get things going and haven’t looked back since. Business is very good at the moment and despite the slowdown, we are quite busy and hopefully things will stay that way in the future.”