http://www.truckingmag.co.uk August 2019 TRUCKING 57
multi-drop patterns and
the added manual work
of stacking the trolleys.
So, we try to look after
them all as best we can,
and have recently been
training two of our own
driver-trainers to help us
set and meet even higher
levels of safety and
performance across the
fleet. We have also moved
to Tom Tom for our driver/
vehicle performance
figures, so we can spot
harsh driving habits and
help drivers avoid them.”
Plants plus-plus!
That seasonality of horticulture could
be a real issue for any business that
relied on it exclusively. Bleach of
Lavant doesn’t. Alongside its evident
expertise in this sector, which accounts
for around 40 per cent of its overall
movements, the company has
significant interests in not only the
pallet operation referred to earlier, but
in general haulage. In both sectors it
has a strong local reputation and loyal
customer base, providing services for a
wide range of goods and industries.
The overall fleet currently
comprises 49 DAF rigids and 24 DAF
tractors, 10 of them acquired since
January this year. All are carefully
specified to match the operator’s
profile of horticulture, pallet and
general haulage activities, offering
good overlap for those times of
seasonal peaks.
The number of rigids is a result of that
Day 1 schedule for some 70 per cent of
the plant deliveries. “It’s something we
can’t really do with artics,” admits Mick.
“Though they come into their own during
the peak season on longer runs and in
general haulage operations.”
The business did use 7.5-tonne DAF
rigids for pallet work, though with the
ingenuity that marks out so much of
the firm’s operations, they have now
spec’d 12.0-tonne trucks to the same
size as a 7.5-tonne, but carrying six
tonnes rather than just three. Themajority of the fleet is fitted with
forward-facing cameras, which Mick
says he “wouldn’t be without now”.
Alongside its main depot at Ford
Airfield in Sussex, the business now has
satellite points for the fleet at Hereford,
Preston, Romsey and Exeter, and Mick is
happy their reputation and performance
will see them through any bumps in the
road that Brexit might throw up.
“I joined the business officially at 17,”
he says, “and every generation has
worked hard to get us to where we are
today. We almost made a mistake and
sold out cheaply in the early ’90s when
things were tough, but we’re not
quitters. We worked through that and
have grown ever since.”
We said at the start the fourth
generation was already working for
Bleach of Lavant. Mick’s sons, George
and Ben, are both involved, working in
the traffic office and planning third-
party plant orders respectively. So, the
future looks assured, and though we
were too polite to ask, no doubt there
will be further generations involved at
some stage. Possibly to be called Mick?
Just to avoid confusion?! ■Blast from the past: Bleach
of Lavant has stayed with
DAF since 1974