*With a new name, look, depot and fleet, Tait Transport Solutions is still providing the same professional service it first delivered seven years ago. Kevin Swallow, editor of Transport News, travelled to Bellshill to speak with boss Chris Tait about the transformation. He writes:
Last year, Chris Tait made sweeping changes to the seven-year-old transport business he started following his departure from DHL. Out went the old DGG Freight name, to be renamed and rebranded as Tait Transport Solutions. The aging fleet of owned trucks was replaced with new vehicles in a deal struck with Dawsongroup, and if that wasn’t enough, the company relocated from its shared space at Cumbernauld to a new site, complete with warehousing, in Bellshill.
I’ve arrived at the new site, which would be a credit to anyone involved in transport.
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The move in September 2023, also brought a change in the heavy goods vehicle operator licence to 18 trucks and 21 trailers, and the new company name with a family feel: Tait Transport Solutions.
Overall, the business incorporates UPN alongside a dedicated freight service for its customers. Chris explained what a working week looked like as a pallet network operator: “Our warehouse opens at 6am, the first drivers are in at 7am and by 9am all the drivers are out. For example, today (7 November 2023), we will have five tractor units and trailers, six 18 tonners, a 7.5 tonner and a van out making deliveries and collections up until 5pm, when they will come back to the yard.
“Pallets are processed and loaded. Three tractor units will then trunk with the double-deck trailers, and if it’s busy we’ll send four. The first trunk will leave at five o’clock, and every half hour after that. The first trunk returns in the morning at around 5am, and the process starts again for Tuesday and the rest of the week through to Saturday morning.”
Upgrading the fleet meant changing from outright ownership of the trucks to a rental agreement, with a deal struck with Dawsongroup, who have a site in Glasgow. It is a relationship that goes back to 2017. “I’ve always rented some equipment from them, whether it be trucks or trailers. Since 2022, we’ve built up the relationship with them, and in particular with Wendy Henderson, the sales manager,” he explained.
From Dawsongroup, Tait Transport Solutions have six DAF LF 18 tonne gross vehicle weight (GVW) curtainsided trucks, a 7.5 tonner, and four XF tractor units. These trucks are fitted with trackers and cameras. Chris explained that there are four more MAN TGX tractor units due to arrive to replace the four currently on the fleet. There are also seven trailers, one of which has a tail-lift, with the new family livery. There are an additional six double-deck trailers on the fleet with UPN livery.
“We are in the process of ordering some new trailers,” he added: “We wanted a partner like Dawsongroup because they can help us with the image that we’re looking for, which is to be seen with nice, new equipment that looks clean and fresh.
“It’s important to have a supplier who can respond to changes in the marketplace. So, when we want to increase the fleet, we know that we can make a phone call and they’ll make that happen. And we also want to change the equipment every two or three years.”
*(Extracts by kind permission of Transport News from article in their February edition.)