Trucking Magazine – August 2019

OPERATOR PROFILE BLEACH OF LAVANT

We can’t afford downtime,

especially at peak season. The

DAFs give us excellent reliability

and performance.

Mick Bleach

➤

56 TRUCKING August 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.uk

local farmers and growers; some

nurseries having just started producing

plants and selling them into the rapidly

developing garden centre trade.

Making things grow

The Bleach management team decided

very astutely to sell the market work and

focus on Fargro. Within a very short time

that business sub-divided, and Bleach of

Lavant continued with its offshoot,

Farplants. Today, Farplants is the haulier’s

biggest customer, the two businesses

expanding and flourishing side by side.

Farplants has grown to become the

leading supplier to garden centres, and

Bleach of Lavant the foremost haulier

serving the sector. Bleach of Lavant also

supplies Fargro with a nationwide

palletised delivery service.

Successful haulage of horticultural

products is far from simple. You don’t

build a business of Bleach of Lavant’s

size and ability without a lot of hard

work – and a lot of investment in the

trucks – all DAF tractors and rigids – the

trailers and special ‘Danish Trolleys’

used for plant movements.

“I like the DAF product,” says Mick

Bleach. “We can’t afford downtime,

especially at peak season. The DAFs, all

provided by [DAF dealer] Adams Morey

since 1974, give us excellent reliability

and performance, good driver acceptance

and outstanding local and UK back-up

should it ever be needed.”

Unsurprisingly, Mick takes a personal

hand in specifying the fleet of DAF rigids

and tractors and the trailers currently

coming through SDC. “Giving drivers the

right equipment to make their jobs

easier is a key ingredient in keeping

delicate plants in good condition while

they are moved swiftly from grower to

re-seller,” says Mick.

The company has a ‘Day 1’ delivery

schedule for around 70 per cent of the

plants it transports. That demands

reliable trucks, with bodies and trailers,

some temperature controlled, able to take

maximum numbers of Danish Trolleys

without damaging the plants. All have

large-platform, retractable tail lifts and

multiple rows of load-locks fitted into

floors and roofs to secure the trolleys.

Horticulture is a sector where

seasonal peaks and troughs are very

evident however, both in times of year

and also in the week. In spring and

summer, the fleet works delivering

plants five and sometimes six days a

week during a rolling four-month peak.

One of the keys to success at this

frantically busy time is the control of

customers’ trolleys – the haulier has

highly experienced staff and powerful

systems in place to ensure it keeps track

of every single one of its units. When

winter arrives though, deliveries can

drop to just three days a week.

“It brings a number of complexities,”

says Mick Bleach, “not least in terms of

scheduling driver hours and allocating

truck usage. We are lucky to have a good

number of long-service office workers

and drivers with us.

“Our work can be a bit different to

other hauliers, because we have a lot of

The company has a ‘Day 1’ delivery schedule for

around 70 per cent of the plants it transports