Owens Transport and Scania – a winning combination!
28/11/2023
Operating out of the picturesque village of Kilmainhamwood in north county Meath, Owens Transport has established a stellar reputation down through the decades as one of Ireland’s premier TASCC-approved bulk haulage specialists. Irish Trucker interrupted MD Ronnie Owens’ busy schedule to get the inside line on this industry-leading second-generation family business and their lengthy association with the prestigious Scania marque.
For 50+ years, the Owens name has become synonymous with the consistent provision of professional, dependable, value-added haulage services, invariably achieving absolute customer satisfaction through the safe, prompt and efficient transportation of their product to and from sites nationwide.
The genesis of this exceptional business goes back more than half a century to when founder Mickey Owens purchased his first Hino to do flatwork. Today, Mickey’s son, Ronnie, is at the helm of Owens Transport, which currently runs a stunning fleet of 13 Scanias.
A constant down through the decades – and undoubtedly one of the core reasons behind the company’s enduring success and popularity – has been that they have always gone out of their way to provide excellent service levels.
This is something that Mickey insisted upon from the get-go and is a value that he has instilled into present MD Ronnie, who has always possessed an inherent passion for trucks and the industry in general. Very much a hands-on director, Ronnie has been driving for 13 years and took over the reins of the popular bulk haulage enterprise in the late ‘noughties.
“Mickey still does the odd day, he’ll always be a big part of the business,” says Ronnie. “When I took over, he already had great contacts built up and the goal was to try to build on the tradition he had established and push things on a bit from there.”
Predominantly purchased from McElvaney Motors, Owens Transport’s striking red-and-white trucks always look superb, with one of the most prominent features being the conspicuous presence of the familiar Scania logo across the front of the cab. Regarding the company’s decades-long love of all things Scania, Ronnie states:
“We’ve been more or less exclusively with Scania for 30 years now and during that time, other than Scania, I’d say we only had one Volvo. Scania is what we know best so we stick with them. They rarely let us down and we’re more than happy with their performance. For reliability, you can’t best them. If something goes wrong, they are easily fixed most a the time…
“We do all our own mechanical work in-house and our mechanic Leo knows Scania inside-out which is a big help. We also have a very good relationship with McElvaney’s. We get on very well with Adrian and the team and they provide a great service. I couldn’t say enough about them.
“We got a new 540 in February, which Kenneth is driving, and we also took possession of a new 650 two years ago which We have to credit our current social media presence and attendance at truck shows to our driver Dwayne Lynch a fine truck it turned out…. also have a couple trucks on the way try and keep them up the years – you have to keep moving things forward and make sure the lorries are fresh and in good order.”
Be it bulk haulage, flat trailer or curtain sider work, Owens Transport have always delivered the goods on behalf of their customers and this is why the Kilmainhamwood-based family business benefits from such a large volume of repeat business.
Their three main clients at present are Breedon Group, for whom they draw tar nationwide in Breedon’s own tanks; Irish Cement, with whom they currently have up to 10 or so non TASCC trailers and Paul & Vincent, to whom unrivalled TASCC-approved bulk haulage transportation services are provided.
While some of the work is seasonal, these seasons don’t overlap much, which means Owens Transport are kept ticking over steadily. “It all falls into place very nicely for us,” Ronnie confirms. “When the tar nears finish, the harvest starts and we go into the mills when they get busy. The way it works out, we are kept busy all year around.”
Great trucks are of little use without equally great drivers and Owens Transport are spoiled in this regard. Ronnie has high praise for the entire team at Owens Transport: “We have 16 drivers and most of them have been here for a long time and they are highly experienced, skilled and knowledgeable. They’ve all been here for at least five years, some a lot longer. One driver, Eugene Hand, is with us for 20+ years, while Patsy Bennett is another long-term member of the team, who is coming up to 20 years’ service.
“I have to give a special mention to Jill Carolan, who is 24 years here and is retiring later this year. She was brilliant with us and a key part of the team around here and we’ll really miss Jill. When she started here, we only had one or two trucks and she was here for all the growth we experienced since then. She was instrumental in everything we did for 24 years and she will be hard to replace.
“Once you have good staff everything else will fall together. We have great drivers and the boys all know what to do and have the capacity to do it. When one of the lads heads off in a truck, you know that truck is in good hands. They are all top class, and the same with Jill. Sure you’d be lost without them.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing down through the decades as the very nature of economics means that Owens Transport has been through a number of recessions and some tough times, experiencing both ups and downs, like any small, independent business.
“We’ve always come out of it, though,” Ronnie concludes. “You can only work with the cards you’re dealt and we’ve done our best to look after customers and keep things moving. It’s going really well at the moment and, while there are opportunities there to increases the fleet, we’ll take it day by day instead of rushing into any decisions.
“A final word for our customers. The customers we have are all top notch and have a great working relationship. We appreciate their professionalism and their loyalty and we are determined to keep providing them with the best-possible service going forward.”
Owens Transport,
Kilmainhamwood,
Kells,
County Meath.
Tel: 087 6140206
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Trucker magazine Vol 26 No 6, October/November 2023
