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Press news - The Art of Resourcefulness

If you’re looking to boost operating efficiencies, multi-floor exponent Trailer Resources can help you achieve just that. Bryan Jarvis has been speaking to the man at the helm.

As trailer suppliers go, leasing and rentals company Trailer Resources is a relative newcomer, but that hasn’t stopped it from expanding within the highly specialised double-deck transport sector.
Its owner Des O’Connor certainly knows a thing or two about such business development, after spending 12 years helping Montracon expand across the UK, and a further three doing much the same for SDC.

However, in 1996 he decided the time was ripe to put his hard-earned expertise to better use and ‘do his own thing’.

That year, he and his original partner Eric Edwards set up Trailer Resources at Leyton Buzzard, initially just buying and selling trailers. But paying hefty amounts in sales tax prompted them into extending their business portfolio to include curtainsider rentals, and it proved a major turning point.

He wanted to give customers the right vehicle for the job, according to the type of load carried; pallets, stillages, crates or packages, their size, weight and recommended the right load restraint too.

He also knew the value of using the right type of extra decking to suit a particular operation, where best to position roof posts and which load securing system to include.

A decade on, Des O’Connor is now sole owner and with son Barry managing the day-to-day running of the business, his customer base has grown to around 200 UK operators, which he services with a sizeable fleet of over 2,000 curtainsiders; 80% are on contract hire and the rest rented out.

In the last financial year, Trailer Resources turned over £6.0m which is in line with his year-on-year business plan. But O’Connor also has a three year overview to make sure its remains profitable and heading in the right direction.

Whilst the fleet is relatively young, over the past four years, he’s spent £2.0m annually on new trailers for new contracts. Lately, it’s been mainly on double-decks but he’s also bought boxvans, fridges and more recently skeletals.

One major client needed extra sliding bogie skeletal trailers to haul the increasing numbers of 45ft containers, but ones that could avoid the coupling damage being sustained when the coupling try was pulled forward from the 40ft container position, also the customer wished to avoid drivers having to lean under the front of the 45ft containers when coupling up to the tractor unit.

After lengthy consultations with the chosen manufacturer Montracon, the problem has been resolved by building in a new extended neck section, to accept the longer box but without affecting the 2.04m swing clearance, and avoiding the drivers having to lean under the box.

Double-decks

O’Connor had long realised the potential of double-decks and four years ago began adding them to his fleet.

Today there are over 200 double decks of various types in the fleet and he has many more on order.

One growing area of interest is double deck’s with aerodynamic fronts and various manufacturers happily quote fuel savings of anywhere between 6.0% and 15% while charging an extra £1,000 for a trailer.

That can add say £5 a week on a 5-year contract but O’Connor feels that accurate fuel figures are needed if he’s to convince his customers of the benefits.

For that reason, his company is teaming with Commercial Motor magazine, in a controlled operational trial, in order to quantify the possible fuel savings on aerodynamic fronts.

For this they’ll use standard specification double deck fronted curtainsiders, as well as a double deck with an aerodynamic front.

But O’Connor is looking to ensure there is no resistance when pulling the curtains, along the aerodynamic section.

Business operation:

Trailer Resources operates from a base near Leighton Buzzard which includes a large fully equipped double-bay workshop with pit jacks, trailer lifts and full height work platforms to get at marker lights, curtain rails or roof panels.

The workshop is staffed by four time-served HGV1 mechanics; all with Haldex and Knorr Bremse training and on taillifts too from next month.

Over 95% of its trailer fleet is brought back for repairs and annual testing, but it also uses outside agents for servicing.

All tyre checks are handled by ATS on a monthly basis with both Trailer Resources and its customers receiving copies of the report. Over the past two months, tyre costs have reduced considerably, to the delight of the firm’s accountants.

Why contract hire

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Remove suprises with fixed costs over life of contract with the flex-ablility of varied renewal options.
24/7 support service nationwide which matches the hire period or contract length.

Standard or bespoke specifications staying up to date with state of the art equipment.

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