IRHA Haulier of the year 2005

Worthy award winner

O'Toole Transport in Moycullen, County Galway was a deserving recipient of the 2005 IRHA National Haulier of the Year award for companies with two to ten vehicles. Since scooping the award in October, the family-run continental fish distributor continues to grow steadily, having secured valuable new work that necessitates substantial fleet expansion.

These are decidedly defining days for O'Toole Transport in Moycullen. The Galway company was established a decade ago and has every reason to celebrate its tenth anniversary with enthusiasm. Truth is, O'Toole Transport has never been stronger.

Towards the back end of 2005, things took a distinct turn for the better when the IRHA National Haulier of the Year Award for companies in the two to ten truck category was garnered. The exposure gleaned from culling such a high-profile award contributed to the procurement of a major new contract and further growth seems inevitable. Things are certainly looking good on the O'Toole Transport front!

When Irish Trucker caught up with Laurence O'Toole recently, the amiable joint- MD of the company was in suitably upbeat mood. Laurence, who heads up O'Toole Transport in partnership with his sister Mary, was in the CityWest Hotel in Dublin on October 1 to pick up the National Haulier of the Year award. He admits to being pleasantly surprised when he heard that O'Toole Transport had won: "It was a nice surprise. We knew we had been shortlisted for the award and were delighted to win it.

As far as I'm aware, companies are nominated by customers and other hauliers and each of the nominees is then assessed on six different criteria including things like quality of fleet, forward planning, service to the IRHA and driver training.

O'Toole Transport operates from Allen's Park, Moycullen in Galway and specialises in the delivery of food, especially seafood, throughout Europe. It is also involved in food distribution for the grocery sector.

The company has always placed a keen emphasis on using high quality equipment, maintaining a relatively new fleet at all times. Brand new Scania trucks are purchased for overseas work. Flexibility is also a key consideration - O'Toole Transport makes itself available to customers around the clock.

The business continues to expand and Laurence expects to have 15 lorries on the road very soon. Winning the IRHA award gave everyone in the company an injection of confidence and the MD feels that it recognises the effort that has been invested over the past decade:
"It's recognising the hard work that has been put in here. We started in 1996 with one truck and have been working night and day since. It's great to be recognised for your hard work by your fellow hauliers. We've been working very hard and that's how we got to where we are today.:

The genesis of O'Toole Transport occurred in 1996 when Laurence's parents Angela and Larry bought their first lorry. In the intervening ten years, the company has developed impressively. Growth has been steady and the company is currently busier than ever, with up to 15 trucks on the road daily.

Shortly after winning the Haulier of the Year award, an agreement was struck with two of the country's fish exporters in counties Galway and Donegal. Under the terms of this agreement, O'Toole Transport will carry high quality salmon from factories in Donegal and Galway to destinations throughout Ireland, the UK and the continent. The runs are set to use up to ten lorries a day and O'Toole Transport also opened a new cold store early in the new year to act as a distribution base for fish collected in Ireland for UK and continental markets.

Fish distribution is the niche that O'Toole Transport has always been aiming for. The very first refrigerated rigid registered as a company vehicle was purchased specifically with the idea of transporting fish, with a lot of ports and fish factories nearby. The Moycullen family also had a few contacts in the industry, which served them well in the early days. At present, O'Toole Transport employs a team of 24 in total, including four family members.

They are continuing with their proven policy of trying to keep their fleet as new and fresh as possible. At least one brand new lorry has been purchased each year since 2002. In recent times, the company has purchased seven new lorries, nine new refrigerated units and two new fish tankers for bringing fish from farms to factories. All the tractor units are Scania, purchased from Westward Scania in Strokestown.

Two new Scania R580s were added to the fleet last year and four new trucks have just been added as well as four new temperature-controlled Chereau refrigerated units from International Trailers Ltd. in Carlow.

Why the loyalty to Scania?

Though the brand new Scanias come with a two-year warranty/service package, O'Toole Transport also has its own garage, manned full-time by two mechanics. For satellite tracking purposes, O'Toole Transport has struck a symbiotic agreement with Newcastle, Galway based company Blue Tree to use its exciting new software package for satellite tracking.

All in all, things are going superbly for the Moycullen-headquartered company. Regarding the prestigious Haulier of the Year award, Mary concludes: "Winning the award has given the company a whole new lease of life. It definitely helped us win the new contract. There were others interested in that contract too, but we have a good ten-year track record and we're also national Haulier of the Year. It's a big achievement and it generated a lot of press, which never does any harm.: O'Toole Transport boasts an exceptional reputation. This didn't just happen by chance.