PAUL BARRY IS A HAPPY CHAPPY. AND WHO CAN BLAME HIM, GIVEN THAT HE DRIVES ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WRECKERS IN EUROPE AND ATTRACTS ATTENTION WHEREVER HE GOES? ON SCENE REPORTS
Paul Barry can scarcely believe his luck. He spends his working days at the wheel of a 780hp – yes, 780hp – Volvo FH16 6×4 Aero rigid operated by Kibworth, Leicestershire-based Crouch Recovery. And he thinks it’s the most astounding truck he’s ever driven.
“It takes the biscuit – there’s absolutely no question about it,” he grins. “The performance it delivers is extraordinary – utterly unbelievable – and I don’t know what else you could compare it to.
“I’ve always driven nice trucks, but this one has got to be one of the most powerful wreckers in Europe. When I joined Crouch, I asked for a Volvo, but I certainly didn’t expect this one!”
With all that power on tap, the 5.6-metre wheelbase Volvo with its Globetrotter XL sleeper cab can pull heavily-laden wagons that need rescuing without even breathing hard.
“I was towing a 44-tonne milk tanker up a hill on the M40 the other day and it just blasted up it,” Paul says. “The guy who was accompanying me couldn’t believe it, and nor could I.
“Milk tankers don’t have baffles inside them so the milk sloshes around constantly, and they can be a nightmare even when they’re only 30% to 40% full,” he observes.
Hauling this particular tanker was a dream, however. “We were grossing nearly 70 tonnes and the performance was phenomenal,” he says. “The engine and transmission never feel over-stressed, and I think it’s true to say that Volvo always goes above and beyond what is required.”
Gross train weight is 120 tonnes, says Crouch Recovery.
IT’S A TOUGH LIFE AND A DEMANDING TRADE, BUT T&J WALLACE CO-FOUNDER TOMMY WALLACE AND CURRENT DIRECTOR CONNOR SMITH BOTH STILL LOVE WORKING IN THE RECOVERY SECTOR, AS ON SCENE FINDS OUT
Right in the middle of East Lothian village McMerry, there was once a haulier whose owner sold his property on retirement to his two sons Tommy and Jim, who created T&J Wallace. The brothers subsequently refocused the business from haulage and coal into light commercial and heavy repairs, Jim taking on the cars and vans while Tommy devoted his time to trucks.
Winding down the haulage was both the end of one era and the beginning of another exciting new one.
The business is based just a few miles from Edinburgh on the notorious A1, a disgracefully underfunded thread of a road with long sections of single carriageway, but still arguably the easiest way, particularly for trucks, from the large cities and towns in the north-east of England to Scotland’s capital and its many locations beyond. It’s hard to imagine a more strategic location for heavy recovery.
The A1 and its northern sister the A9 are an issue that is still simmering away to this day, with Scotland suffering from decades of infrastructure underinvestment. Feel brave, and depending on what you’ve got on the trailer and the weather, you can always cut on to the A697 and through Wooler. Feel particularly adventurous, and there’s the A68. All of these roads are steep, infested with tight corners and beset with extreme weather conditions. The A1 has improved a fair bit over the years, but there’s a sprawling network of tiny roads servicing the multitude of agricultural operations and rural villages in the region.
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SWAIN’S COMMERCIALS HAS FOUGHT BACK FROM A DEVASTATING FLOOD IN 2018 TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL RECOVERY AND REPAIR OPERATION WITH A NICE LINE IN CLASSIC COMMERCIALS, WRITES ON SCENE
For husband and wife Shaun and Alex Swain, 12 October 2018 is a day etched into their memory. While the day started off pleasantly enough – on a road run in Exeter with their vintage AEC Monarch and Leyland Octopus – a phone call from a friend changed their world forever.
Storm Callum was raging up the west side of the UK and the Swain’s Commercials yard in Llandysul, on the Ceredigion/Carmarthenshire border in Wales – containing their workshop and Volvo FH16 wrecker – was right in the cross-hairs.
“We had a call from the guy who ran the business across the road from us, and he told us our yard was filling up with water,” recalls Alex. “By the time we got back – because we were in old vehicles it took us about five hours – it was underwater. Our FH wrecker was literally up to the wing mirrors in water. We lost the whole business. And we weren’t insured against floods, so we literally lost everything.
“Everything was underwater, apart from what we had out in the two old trucks. It was devastating.”
Following the flood, Shaun and Alex had to start again. “We had some savings, and we ploughed every penny into gradually starting back up,” says Shaun. “Our customers were brilliant. They all waited for us to get cleaned up and get the basics back working; they stuck with us and everybody paid their bills, which really helped us.
OLD FRIENDS MIKE SMITH AND JAY CHILTON HAVE SPENT MANY YEARS IN THE RECOVERY SECTOR, JOINING FORCES TO CREATE R&R AUTOMOTIVE TWO YEARS AGO. AND THANKS TO THEIR CAREFUL PLANNING AND FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE, THE OPERATION HAS GROWN QUICKLY SINCE THEN, WRITES ON SCENE
Rescue & Repair Automotive Services (R&R) may be a new name to the recovery sector in the Shropshire and North Wales area, but in less than two years, the company has established itself in the local market and grown to a fleet of 25 vehicles.
This success stems from meticulous planning by two good friends. James Chilton – known as Jay – and Mike Smith have known each other for more than 15 years, both working in the automotive repair and recovery industry. Jay grew up in the sector as his father ran a recovery company. When he left education, Jay followed his dad into the industry and has had a variety of jobs, from workshops to the corporate side. Mike has also been in the industry since leaving school and has done everything from driving artics and running a scrapyard to operating his own auto repair workshop, Rescue & Repair in Telford.
The two had never worked in the same business. But when Jay left his last corporate role, Mike asked him to join him in building a repair and recovery business, using his skills in the industry and Jay’s contacts and know-how.
Initially, Jay was reluctant. But Mike wasn’t taking no for an answer. “He called me up and said we had a meeting to go to,” Jay relates. “I asked who with, but he wouldn’t say. We went round to his accountant and I was presented with a piece of paper. When I asked what it was, Mike told me it was half of his business, adding that I could have it right away if I joined him.”
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SCOTTISH FIRM CARS RECOVERY HAS GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH, THANKS TO THE DRIVE AND PERSPECTIVE OF THE TWO BROTHERS THAN RUN IT, WRITES ON SCENE
The recovery industry has advanced enormously over the decades, but like the transport industry in general, it needs fresh blood. Fresh blood brings with it fresh impetus, fresh perspective and fresh ideas. And that’s certainly in evidence at CARS Recovery of Aberdeen.
It is perhaps surprising to learn just how young company CEO Harry Patterson was, when he began his journey in the recovery industry. Eighteen years ago in 2008, aged just 21 and fresh out of university with a degree in business management, he had a short stint working in the oil and gas industry. But it wasn’t for him.
Having always had a keen interest in cars, the idea of building a business relating to them appealed to him. So when the opportunity arose to buy a small recovery outfit with a handful of trucks called C.A.R.S – the name being taken from the founding owner’s initials – Harry jumped at it.
A second major opportunity arose fairly soon afterwards, when the firm was able to acquire its main competitor in the area, Balmedie Service Station, a slightly bigger operation with multiple sites.
Harry opted to consolidate both operations at the CARS HQ in Aberdeen, and the combination of the two provided his company with contracts with all the major breakdown clubs, as well as work from Grampian Police (now Police Scotland).
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