Facing up to reality

Carlow haulier Tom Sibbald has dropped anchor and won't be running the roads in the short-term now that he has decided to raffle off his 2008 Man truck due to a lack of work.

The end-of-year malaise which saw a predictable increase in the number of 'no work here' signs dotted about the landscape gripped Tom Sibbald like a 24-hour bug.
His dejection at the end of December '08 had definition and depth. A man with over 30 years experience in the haulage game, his frustration grew the longer a panacea eluded him.
In the New Year the Carlowman sat down and calibrated the way ahead from a business point of view. His conclusion? Time to guillotine his career as a self-employed haulier.
In recent weeks, Tom has been busy making preparations to finally offload his 2008 440 horse power Man articulated lorry by dint of a private members' draw.

"I've no other choice but to get rid of it (lorry)," he laments, "there's just no work out there so there's no point in having it sitting outside in the yard doing nothing."
Tom explains his decision to raffle off his prized possession was a slow-to-the-boil one. He stewed over his future for three months before deciding to call it a day as a sole trader.
"Really from September last I had been doing virtually nothing - maybe one load a week - and then nothing so I had to arrive at some definite decision," he adds.
So now Tom's plan is to sell tickets (limited to a maximum of 600) at 200 euros each with his 110,000 euros-plus lorry the top prize going to the lucky holder of the winning ticket.
His truck is capable of carrying loads up to 27 tonne and, according to Tom, is "very comfortable, very reliable and has been well serviced up to now."

The draw will take place on Saturday, March 28th at the Corner House pub in Tom's native Hacketstown, County Carlow.
Tom hopes to recoup the guts of what he paid out for the lorry initially and from any profit emanating from the draw, he intends donating a certain amount to a local charity.
"I'd be talking to some fellas in the truck business and they were able to tell me that trucks were going at half-nothing at some of these auctions that are held around the country.
"I came around to thinking that I wouldn't get near the amount of money I owe on the truck if I tried to get rid of it at one of these auctions so I decided to go down a different road.
"I doubted I'd get not much more than 70 or 80,000 euros for my truck in an auction. I've heard of 2008 trucks going for not much more than 50,000 euros

"Hopefully the draw will at least bring in enough to clear off what I owe and then I can give a few euros to the local Day Care Centre which is looking for money to buy a new mini-bus."
Does he envisage the tickets selling like the proverbial hot cakes?
"I'm not so sure. It could be difficult enough to get rid of all the tickets because people are slow these days about handing out money.
"Hopefully word of mouth among truck drivers will help and that there'll be a good enough demand for the tickets from the general public too.
"I think we'll be okay though and I can't see me having to put anything like a reserve on the number of tickets to be sold in the draw.

To his eternal credit, Tom has refused to sit on his hands and lament the hand that has been dealt him by the dregs of the Celtic Tiger economy.
Instead, he has been energised by the recession which has hit these shores. He has shown the get-up-and-go spirit that employers have come to recognise and trust down the years.
For the past seven years, the Hacketstownman has plied his wares as a reliable self-employed haulier, working up and down the country but mainly in the deep south, Cork, Kerry etc.
His more recent payloads saw him haul blocks and paving for a large nationwide company. Gradually the workload headed south (as well as margins) and outgoings headed north.
"When I bought the Man new off M&S in New Ross last year, there was a helluva lot more work," Tom recalls, "and things were going far, far better for the building trade then.
"It was the same type of work, same sort of loads I was carrying and I didn't see the writing on the wall, to be truthful.
"Things were still going very well for me in August and September last but then things began to take a turn for the worse with the building game but what could I do?

"It's alright talking about diversifying but I had only the one truck and I was still hopeful that the number of loads I was getting would pick up but, instead, they kept getting smaller."
These are strange times for a lot of people. Tom Sibbald has been a busy man all his life and his new-found spare time is a malady even beyond the cure of Governments, it seems.
"It looks as if the recession will get worse before it gets better but there's not a lot of point worrying about it. I prefer to look at the glass as being half-full and hope for the best.
"I don't think things will get much worse all the same. The downturn in the building trade can't go on forever. Like the 'eighties, the bad 'oul times have to turn around sometime."
Tom isn't ashamed to admit that he found the advent of the adverse times "very difficult to come to terms with, very demoralising after the holidays for the building trade."

A new way of life beckons for Tom and his clan now. Together with his wife Clodagh and baby daughter Halle, adapting to the family's change of circumstances is now on the menu.
Naturally Tom is wont to reflect on the 24 years he spent driving trucks on the continent, mostly fridges, for local firms like Nolans New Ross and John Myers of Hacketstown."
He says he enjoyed his time driving around mainland Europe but "it was always my wish to go out on my own at some stage."
Any regrets about going solo?
"Plenty of regrets," he replies with typical honesty and clarity. But you never know what way the tide is going to turn in business and not too many saw the recession coming.
Engaged on trips to Romania and Albania some five years ago on behalf of the charity 'Heart to Hand', Tom is optimistic that he can find employment sooner rather than later.

"I will get some work but how much I don't know," he acknowledges. "I have a friend who drives for a living as well and the story he has wouldn't inspire confidence in you though.
"He rang about 45 companies in January but got no offers of work. He'd be very well thought of and has a good track record in the haulage business but has been out of luck so far."
Tom admits that things are tight at present for the Sibbald family with regard to finance. So cashing in his 'business' would greatly help balance the books right now.

For a man used to working five days a week and putting some 120,000 miles per year up on the clock, being rooted to his home, just 12 miles from Carlow town, represents a massive change in lifestyle.
But the personable 51 year-old has his head well screwed on and appears to know exactly what counts in the long run:
"The family have their health and that's the main thing. Your health is your wealth so we''ll not complain too much. Things could be far worse.
"I've just taken the decision to face up to reality, that's all. There was no point in sticking my head in the sand like an ostrich - that wouldn't help anyone.
"If things pick up in the future, I'd like to go back into the business as a sole trader but we'll see how things work out."