GK Kelly Transport celebrates 15th anniversary

GK Kelly Transport Ltd will be in business 15 years next month. And to mark the occasion, Irish Trucker and Light Commercials recently chatted with proprietors Gary and Trish Kelly who have overseen the company’s significant growth in that time.

GK Kelly Transport specialises in airfreight, sand and gravel and general haulage

Over the past decade, trucks bearing the GK Kelly Transport name have become a familiar sight on Irish roads.
Specialising in airfreight, sand and gravel and general haulage, the company was formed exactly 15 years ago by husband and wife Gary and Trish Kelly, having previously traded as Kelly Transport for four years. During that time, GK Kelly Transport has earned a reputation for reliability, quality and excellence, and has built up an extensive customer-base in both Ireland and abroad.

The company originally operated from Naas before moving to its current base at Calverstown, Kilcullen in 1997. It also has a yard in nearby Suncroft. It is real family operation with Gary’s daughter Tracy also involved on a part-time basis. His other daughter Vickie previously worked for the company as well, while his three granddaughters Taylor, Brooke and Naomi are already showing an interest. His two sons-in-law, Jonathan and Nigel, have also been willing to help out whenever they have had to.

Gary was born and bred in Kirkby, Liverpool where he was introduced to the business by his father and grandfather, who are now both sadly deceased. His older brother David still resides in St. Helen’s where he runs his own transport company called DW Kelly Transport.
Gary was involved in the family business before he began working for a friend’s company which specialised in transporting heavy machinery. One of the contracts he worked on involved transporting machinery from the old rubber factory in Kilcullen back to the UK. While in Kilcullen, he met local lady Trish who he later married and they have been running their own business ever since.

By coincidence, Trish’s father Peter Sully also works in the haulage sector. He runs Peter Sully Transport along with his wife Anne and their two sons, Peter jnr and Martin.
Having started out with just one truck, Gary and Trish now have 21 vehicles made up of Volvo (16), Scania (four) and DAF (one). The trucks range in years from ’95 to ’07. They also have 21 trailers, ranging from roller bed, tipper and refrigerated trailers to curtainsiders and box vans. GK Kelly Transport employs 12 full-time staff, three of who are based in the office.

Of the companyÕs 21-strong fleet, 16 are Volvo

In the early days of the company, Gary transported coal and sand for McMahon’s, and also transported concrete slabs to Dublin for Paddy and John Breslin. He recalls: “Both were within easy reach of Kilcullen and helped me to get established. I then began working for Kilsaran Concrete, who I am still with. I have three sand and gravel vehicles with them – all Volvo – with mainly Dennison tipping trailers.”

In 1999, the GK Kelly Transport got a major break when it was awarded the Irish and UK airfreight contract for the Dutch-based logistics company Jan De Rijk. The company is one of Europe’s leading providers of integrated logistics services.
“My dad (Peter Sully) told us that Jan De Rijk were looking for subcontractors to do their Irish and UK end of airfreight, so we contacted them and went for an interview with them in London on November 9 1999,” Trish remembers.
“By the time the interview with Tina Pritchard, General Manager of Jan De Rijk’s Heathrow office, was over, we were told to start on the 15th of that month, and we have never looked back since.”

GK Kelly Transport now specialises primarily in airfreight and has 10 trailers which are customised to have roller bed floors to ensure the easy movement of freight transported from aeroplane to warehouse to trailer to wherever within the EU.
“We provide an airport to airport service, transporting everything from luggage to aeroplane engines. We transport all types of cargo and deal with some of the world’s biggest airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa, KLM and American Airlines,” Gary explains.
Other valued clients of GK Kelly Transport are Opal Logistics, Caffrey International, Shamrock Logistics, Expeditors Ireland, Eastway Logistics and OCI Freight. The company’s work for Shannon-based Eastway Logistics involves transporting aeroplane engines within Ireland. And according to Gary, this has placed an extra burden on his drivers, who he has nothing but praise for.

“We only recently started transporting aircraft engines following a request from Frank McNamara of Eastway Logistics,” he says.
“This is very specialised work and places a lot of responsibility on our drivers. They are carrying expensive equipment at the end of the day and have to be extra careful. But I have to say they are a great bunch of lads and can always be relied upon to get the job done professionally. Our drivers hail from Ireland, England, Scotland and South Africa, and they are all very good at what they do. We are lucky to have them.”
Gary spends his time between the office and garage, while he is always available to get behind the wheel if needed. He carries out the majority of the repairs and maintenance to his fleet, helped by Trish’s cousin Noel. The affable Scouser always has his mobile switched on in the case of an emergency.

Trish jokes: “Gary is on call 24/7 with the mobile, all work comes and goes via the mobile. What would we do without it? The answer to that is we both might get some sleep!”
GK Kelly Transport has satellite tracking on all its vehicles which is supplied by Eurotrack, Kilkenny. When asked why he has a preference for the Volvo brand, Gary simply says: “We find them the most reliable truck and the drivers seem to like them. We also get a good service deal with Irish Commercials in Naas, who are main dealers for Volvo.”

The Kellys have struck up an excellent relationship with numerous other suppliers over the years, including Heffernan Tyres, Kildare, Irish Ferriers, Grannings, Naas, A&M Commercials, Monaghan, Ferryman’s Refridgeration, Mayo, JOL Springs and Spares, Naas, JL Bradshaw, Newbridge, Crystal Clean Truckwash, Dublin, DKV, Maxol, O’Shea Commercials, Partech, Sign FX, Kildare Mobile Windscreen, D&M Engineering, Kilcullen and Delaney Commercials, who are main Scania dealers.
In conclusion, Gary says: “We’ve had a good first 15 years and hopefully the next 15 will be just as good.”

For further information about GK Kelly Transport Ltd and the services they office, why not give Gary (086) 2418214 or Trish a call on 045-485470/526014 or email gkkel@eircom.net or trishkelly01@eircom.net.