Keeping it in the family

PROUD FLEET The company operates 104 prime movers with 130 22m-long interlinks. The entire fleet consists of flatbeds with the exception of five tautliner trailers.

Wellington in the Boland is the home of Kearley's Transport, one of the largest independent transport companies in the Western Cape. Our Western Cape correspondent, Stephanie Platt, went to find out more about the company and the legacy founder Ivor Kearley left to his sons. The good news is there is still room for a family business in a market which is seemingly dominated by behemoths.

"Don't get emotional about transport. It's all about business and that's what every decision should be based on."

This is the type of advice Ivor Kearley passed on to his sons. That it is being followed is borne out by the fact that the business has continued to grow since Ivor's untimely death some five years ago.

The premises boast a 7 000 square meter warehouse, extensive parking and maintenance facilities and a collection of office blocks that appear to have grown along with the fleet. This is the head office from where all operations are controlled and where the entire fleet is based. Nationally there are branches in Vanderbijlpark, Durban, Walvis Bay and Windhoek that also have warehousing facilities.

It all began nearly 40 years ago when Ivor Kearley was working for the old British Metal Box as a cost accountant. It was there that he looked at what they were paying to move their palletised metal cans locally. At the time, the vehicles were only carrying 11 pallets, which was where the problem lay.

Ivor designed a trailer that could legally carry 19 pallets and with permission from Metal Box, he had the trailer built and bought himself a Bedford. While still in their employ, he contracted this rig out to them. As he was saving the company substantial amounts of money, he was encouraged to increase his fledgling operation and take on more local routes.

When his fleet increased to five rigs, he decided he could no longer continue to be both contractor and employee and took the decision to venture out on his own.

With the blessing of Metal Box, he resigned, mortgaged his house - to the dismay of his wife - and purchased another two Bedfords. With only the help of his brother Peter and sister-in-law Helene, they ran the company, initially sticking to local transport for his former employer.

Their first long distance route was to Walvis Bay which came to an abrupt halt when the fishing industry collapsed. Fortunately, Metal Box came to his aid and paid his shortfalls and the company continued to grow.

Today, the company operates 104 prime movers with 130 22m-long interlinks. The entire fleet consists of flatbeds with the exception of five tautliner trailers. The maintenance staff is 28 strong, from specialist technicians to welders. The national staff compliment totals 435, of which 75 are based in Wellington.

Every rig on the premises I saw during my visit had full livery and was spotless - quite a feat in the face of dire water shortages and the hot, dusty weather.

Every rig has full livery and is spotless - a credit to the company's image.

Hard work and perseverance
The family members insist they were never coerced to join the company. Each is there through choice and achieved their positions through hard work and perseverance. Marketing director Graham Kearley explains: "The door was open for us but we all completed our studies and other duties like military service first."

In 1976, oldest son Raymond was first to join his father. Setting a trend which his brothers would follow, he started at the bottom rung of the ladder learning the ropes from ex-drivers who had been promoted into operations.

"My father treated us no differently from any of his other employees," says Graham. "We spent time on the road as driver assistants, slinging ropes and securing loads. More than a year was spent in operations, being trained by ex-drivers who were hard taskmasters. This is what provided us with the hands-on approach we all adopt in the business."

Next to join was Norman, who completed a four-year engineering degree, followed by an LLB (B.juris.) Today he heads up the IR division and naturally handles all the company's legal matters. Graham studied marketing through the IMM and after a short stint at a small advertising company, joined his siblings, shortly followed by Anthony who by then had completed a BCom Accounting degree. Today Graham and Anthony are marketing and financial directors respectively.

"Initially Raymond was general manager under my dad," says Graham. "Then shortly before he died, my father appointed us each directors. However, this was potentially dangerous since we each had equal voting powers and there was the possibility of not being able to reach consensus on issues without a deciding vote. This led to the appointment of our cousin Mark to the board."

Today there is no managing director. Raymond and Mark are operations directors and the other brothers continue in their initial capacities. The system seems to work, as although Graham stresses they are all highly individualistic, there is an easy camaraderie and a relaxed atmosphere.

KEARLEY BROTHERS (l-r) Norman, Graham, Anthony and Trevor.... keeping it in the family - and proudly independent

Never focussed on being the biggest
The fundamental philosophy of the company has not changed. "We've never focussed on being the biggest," says Graham. "Its all about efficiency and running at an optimum level. We don't lose sight of the basics. This is an industry that doesn't tolerate mistakes and because we operate the way we do, there have been many opportunities opened up to us because of mistakes by other companies who don't stick to these basics."

Graham cites instances of where they are pitching for new business. "We are often asked how good our claims record is? What claims record? It's amazing to us that potential customers should judge their transport operator on a claims record that should never be there in the first place."

He makes a good point. It is sadly indicative of the industry and its professionalism that losses and damages are accepted as part of the cost of transport.

Another basic rule that Kearley's insists on is that every vehicle in manned by a driver plus an assistant. The assistant is responsible for securing the load and they do not use 'tarping-crews'. This man also carries the responsibility for all equipment and checking tyres and tarpaulins en route, as well as monitoring offloading. These employees are highly valued and their functions clearly defined.

"As part of our in-house training, new drivers are only sent out on the road with experienced assistants. New assistants are trained extensively before going out. We believe that by making the crew on board responsible for the load, it greatly reduces the potential for losses. It also takes a load off the driver."

Graham proudly says that Kearley's methods are often used as an example of how things should be done.

MAN IS THE CHOICE Five new MANs added to the fleet.

Good news for the region is that staff are mostly recruited from the Western Cape. "Because the fleet is based here, we prefer that drivers are closer to home when it comes to holidays and the festive season," explains Graham.

"Of course, for the purposes of customer service we do have some rigs which remain at the other centres where they may have locally recruited staff. Apart from that, the quality of the staff we draw from this area is of very high standard."

All operations are strictly controlled from head office. Branches have operational and marketing staff reporting directly to each director in charge of that aspect of business. In this way, they can constantly monitor not only service levels but also the profitability of each division.

Imbalance of loads
As far as the imbalance of loads from the Western Cape is concerned, Graham is of the opinion that there is little point trying to address it as a problem.

"This is a fact of life. The Western Cape is a consumer society and that is not going to change. We can continue to explore the reasons but companies must accept this and adapt their business to cope. The fact that our business is highly seasonal is another factor that has to be accepted. We could easily increase our fleet by 20% and still not cope during the busy times. However, we believe that to run a sound business, the fleet must operate at an optimum level throughout the year."

This leads the conversation onto the family's concerns for the industry. "There is a tremendous lack of skills in South African business. There is no doubt that the brain-drain has affected the transport industry along with all the others."

In his opinion, too many transport companies over-commit their fleets. They will take on more than they can handle and then let customers down by non-delivery.

"They seem to have an attitude of 'bite off as much as you can and chew it later'. These transport operators who do not trade in good faith have led to opportunities being created for companies like Kearley's."

As far as the future is concerned, the company is not looking at growth but rather at consolidation. Graham Kearley believes that what companies are doing now will decide where they are in three years time.

Strategic alliances
"The time for strategic planning is right now. Of major importance is the relationship between the transport operator and his customer and this is where strategic alliances need to be formed. It must be recognised that fiscal discipline of fleet regeneration can't be avoided"

Unlike many much larger operations, they have not had to retrench a single staff member for over four years, even when they closed down their trailer building operation.

Ivor Kearley's influence remains and will do so as long as his sons remain the driving forces in the business. He told them they were like chickens in a coop and that by the time he left and the coop door opened, they had to be wolves in order to face all the other wolves out there.

Utilising their combined skills, they have demonstrated the ability to take the best of the past and combine it with energy and enthusiasm to grow a company which appears set to remain independent and a family business in the true sense of the word.