New era for Curran Commercials

At the start of the year, Joe Curran and his staff at Curran Commercials moved into a state of the art purpose built premises on an eight-acre site just outside of Oldcastle town in north Meath.

The hard working staff at Joe Currans, l/r: Gerry OÕDea, Barry Dalton, Aldis Urbans, Noel Dalton, Shane Bates, John Watters, Joe Curran, Kathleen Reilly, Rebecca Stephenson, Oliver Garry, Donie Farrelly

Irish Trucker spoke to Joe about the move and the services that the firm has provided since first being established a quarter of a century ago.
Based in Oldcastle, Co Meath, Curran Commercials is a main dealer for Renault vans and trucks, while they also provide all services available to the haulage industry to ensure that the premises is a one-stop shop for its large customer base.
Joe has always been involved in DOE Testing, which has been recently renamed to VTN Testing and this is a growing concern for the business.

“We are delighted to have finally moved into the new premises and we have put a multi-million euro investment into it. Our customer base has grown considerably over the years and our aim is to provide a reliable and efficient service to them,” stressed Joe.
“All Renault trucks and vans, new and old are stocked, while we have a wide selection of parts as well as having a service and repair area to go with the VTN centre.

An exterior view of the state of the art premises

“This consists of three bays, two for heavy commercials and one for light commercials. There are three testers working here full time. The new premises are situated on the Kells road, just on the outskirts of Oldcastle and are right beside the M3 motorway that will be opening later in the year.”

In Ireland a commercial vehicle is required by law to undergo a test once a year. In France for instance buses are required to have a test every six months. In addition, documentation has to be produced at the test to prove that the vehicle has been serviced and maintained in the meantime. A private vehicle here is only required to test after four years and biannually thereafter. Because all insurances require the owner to comply with the laws of the land, it is not only an offence to drive on the road if out of test, but it can have the more serious implication of rendering an insurance invalid! To help enforce this law people are required to produce their pass certificate when the vehicle is being taxed.

The spacious showrooms host many vehicles

A test is a snapshot that on a given time on a given day the testable items on this vehicle achieved a certain standard. Roadworthiness testing is one of the many ways that the RSA can reduce the number of people that are killed on the roads every year, it is estimated that vehicle defects contributed to 12% of accidents, this figure is coming down.
Now most owners of commercial vehicles not only accept the test but look forward to it, because they recognize that a vehicle has to be up to standard if it is to be on the road every day.

“Everyone now accepts that the test is an important part of being able to drive on the roads. There have been major changes in legislation over the years and it is important to keep up with them. That is why; the testers must go on refresher courses every year.”
Joe revealed that the business has added another string to its bow with the establishment of a 24hr recovery service, aptly named M3 Recovery, which sees four trucks on standby.
“We have the four trucks with the latest addition being a 40-tonne sliding crane, which will be used for any rollovers and we are quite busy at this even though, it hasn’t been started long.”

CurranÕs offer a recovery service also

Currans’ also have the franchise to supply hydraulic pumps from Italian firm PZB, as well as truck mounted cranes from Ferrari.
The services provided by the Oldcastle based firm does not stop there as they possess a rolling road for tachographs, plus the truck diagnostics to perform this task.

“Our aim is to be highly efficient at what we do. We know that any haulier doesn’t want to be off the road long and with this in mind, the staff make sure that any task done here is carried out quickly, but without cutting any corners.”
Curran Commercials has undergone a major transformation in a bid to ensure that their large customer base is given a reliable and efficient service. With so many years experience behind them, it looks as if this business will be around for some time to come yet.