McCormack Haulage Services Ltd celebrating 20 years in business

McCormack Haulage Services Ltd is a Westmeath based Haulage Company. We at Irish Trucker decided to head to the Lake County and speak to its director’s MJ McCormack & Darren McCormack.

The McCormack clan. At back: MJ, Angela, Josie and Darren. Front: Adam and Eoin; Young Adam and Eoin McCormack wearing the McCormack Haulage Services - sponsored St. Joseph�s football jerseys; Drivers John McCormack, Przemyslaw Lisowski and John Ayres

February 2008 marked the 20th anniversary of the inception of McCormack Haulage Services Ltd. This is a thriving family run business, which has grown from a one man operation into one of the leading fabricated steel transportation companies in the midlands. They have gained a reputation for excellence, reliability and affordability and have a long list of loyal and satisfied customers.

McCormack Haulage Services Ltd, which is based in Donore, Streamstown, Mullingar was established by MJ McCormack. Before setting up his own company, MJ was employed as a driver by builder’s providers O’Brien Mollen (now Brooks O’Brien Mollen) in Tullamore. MJ took his first step into business when he purchased a Dodge rigid lorry and began providing a general haulage service for local businesses, a service which they continue to provide today.

MJ is the Transport Manager and looks after the day-to –day running of the Company along with his son Darren, who looks after the purchase and maintenance of the Companies Fleet and his daughter Josie, Office Manager. The company has grown steadily since then and now operates a fleet of five DAF 85 CF trucks. The company also counts 39 flat trailers, five extendable trailers, a specialized double extendable Tri axle Hydro-Steer trailer, three curtain-siders, a 7-and-a-half tonne Iveco pick-up truck and two Moffett Mounty Forklifts among its stock.

Another truck being loaded at the McCormack Haulage Services yard in Streamstown, Mullingar

“We’ve come a long way since 1988,” Darren acknowledges. We still provide a general haulage service, but specialize also in steel haulage now.” “We’ve built up a large customer base by providing a top-quality service and through no little amount of hard work. Our artics range from ’99 to ’04 in years. We have a preference for DAF because we have found them to be very reliable and they are also particularly suited to site work. A lot of our work involves getting in and out of building sites and you need a reliable truck to get the job done,” adds Darren, who reveals that their fleet colours are blue and white.
McCormack Haulage Services Ltd also provides storage space at its premises. One of our clients is Grasslands Fertilizers, who produce a complete range of high quality granular fertilizers for all types of farming enterprises. We also provide a delivery service with two Moffitt fork-lifts, one of which is a new M8 recently purchased.

Their Business employs a staff of seven. MJ & Darren have nothing but praise for all of their five drivers, three of whom are Polish. “I think some of the criticism of the drivers from Eastern Europe has been very unfair. All of our lads are reliable and capable drivers. As everyone in this industry knows, good drivers are hard to come by and we are very fortunate with the drivers we have.”
“We have a lot of good customers, whose business we greatly appreciate. Andrew Mannion Structural Engineers Ltd being one of our biggest clients.”

MJ and Darren McCormack present a set of jerseys to St. Joseph�s GAA club officers Hilda Slevin and Eugene Nannery with Adam and Eoin McCormack it front

Andrew Mannion Structural Engineers (AMSE) who, by coincidence, is also celebrating 20 years in business and is recognized as a leading provider of first-class structural steel solutions to the construction industry. McCormack Haulage Services Ltd has forged an excellent working relationship with AMSE whose headquarters is located only a few miles away in Moate, Co. Westmeath. For many years now, McCormack’s have been transporting fabricated steel from the south Westmeath town to all parts of Ireland as well as to the UK.

AMSE created many industry firsts when it successfully undertook the fabrication and erection of Croke Park’s steelwork as part of the stadium’s redevelopment a few years ago. Among the largest and most complex ever manufactured in Ireland, the stadium roof represents a milestone in engineering and fabrication. The cantilevered roof structure spanning a highly impressive 44 meters was fabricated in the AMSE workshop and erected by the company’s dedicated erection crews on the landmark Jones’ Road venue.

The company celebrates 20 years in business this year

“As a GAA man, it was a privilege to be involved in the transport of steel into Croke Park. It is one of the best stadiums in the world and it was nice to have some small association with its development. We also transported the pylons which are used to support the new floodlights on the roof of the stands and on Hill 16,” Darren proudly states.

MJ & Darren are well known in Westmeath GAA circles. MJ was one of the founder members of the local St. Josephs GAA Club and Darren played full back for St. Josephs football team for many years before his career was interrupted by injury in 2006. “I suffered a bad ankle injury two years ago and am only coming back from it now. I enjoy playing and would like to win another trophy with the club before I hang up the boots for good.”

St. Joseph’s is a small rural club which picks its players from the villages of Streamstown, Horseleap & Boher. Darren had the distinction of captaining them to their first-ever adult title in 2002 when they won the Junior Cup. This was followed by a first junior championship success and promotion to the intermediate ranks in 2004 but St. Joseph’s have since returned to the junior grade. However, Darren and his team-mates are hopeful of making a return to winning years in the coming season.
The Companies commitment to St. Joseph’s is also reflected by its sponsorship of the club’s junior team and by the fact that Darren is its current vice-chairman.

2007 was a successful year for McCormack Haulage Services Ltd and MJ & Darren are hoping for more of the same this year.
“Last year was one of our busiest years yet and obviously we’re hoping 2008 will be just as successful. We plan to invest in the future of the business and we’ll be looking into the possibility of purchasing one or two more specialized trailers. We have found over the years that there is a great demand for the transport of abnormal size loads and it is our aim to cater for that end of the market also,” they conclude.

For further information about McCormack Haulage Services Ltd, they can be contacted at Tel: 057-9335142 Mob: 087-2564358 / 087-8233516 or Fax: 057-9335176 or by email: mccormackhaulage@eircom.net