As one of the UK’s largest bulk tipping and haulage providers, Rockley Transport leads the way toward a more sustainable future
With clients across the agricultural, construction, and civil engineering sectors, Rockley Transport moves over 2.5 million tonnes of material each year. The two companies making up Rockley Transport have a long history of haulage, as Managing Director, Stuart Morgan, begins: “Fermac was first established in 1983, as a transporter of bulk materials. The original owners built the business up for nearly 40 years, until June 2018, when it was purchased by Tony Watson. Once the business had changed hands, it started to evolve quite rapidly. We were presented with an opportunity to buy another company, known at the time as Agribulk. At that point, it had been trading for around 25 years, and so by February 2019 we had doubled the company’s capacity and brought in decades of combined industry experience. It took a little while to bring both companies together, we ran them separately for just over a year, as we gradually combined operations. In August 2020, we were finally ready, and Rockley Transport, as it is known today, was born.
“We took our time merging the two businesses together under a new name, as both the previous companies were well known in the industry, and we were able to trade on the goodwill of their names alone. Now, everybody knows that Rockley Transport is the best of both previous institutions combined. Currently, we have 110 vehicles on the road.
“It was a period of transition in a lot of ways. We won new contracts, created new efficiencies, and in turn released some contracts that weren’t suited to the business we had become. With a change in ownership, there’s the opportunity to shake things up, and we promoted internally some knowledgeable players within the industry to run the business as General Managers. They are the ones who have really organised operations and taken the business to where it is now.”
Haulage specialists
For Rockley Transport, haulage is the name of the game, as Stuart details: “Our work is 100 percent haulage. We are purely bulk tipping, which basically means we don’t store anything, and we don’t sell anything. That makes us specialists, and we can work in more challenging areas such as stone aggregate and surface dressing. We also service the grain industry, moving boatloads of grain and malt on a regular basis.
“We’re also licensed to move food products, which require specific conditions and timelines to be transported effectively and remain viable. In terms of what we can haul, it’s varied. Our teams are trained in different material regulations, and we stay well within the parameters of any given task. Customers can procure our services nationally and locally. Within the limits of the UK, there isn’t anywhere we can’t go.”
With dozens of its team members on the road at any given time, it’s vital that Rockley Transport has a company culture capable of bringing everyone together. “Fairness is integral to our internal culture. Too much bureaucracy can get in the way of seeing your people as people, which is something I’ve always tried to avoid. Everyone must work together, and it’s important to have humility, because haulage can be a tough industry in which to operate. It’s important that people know what they’re signing up for. Setting expectations early on, making sure people know where they can find support, all of those things are vital to getting new starters off on the right foot.
“We’re in an industry where a fair amount of our staff has their feet on the ground all day, every day. It’s important that everyone knows how important their role is, and if there are issues, we’re here to support our teams and find a solution. Welfare is also a key concern for us. There are inevitably some hazards with this kind of work, and we are very careful about protecting our teams.”
Greener fuelling options
One of Rockley Transport’s most unique elements is its sustainability drive, which is supported by sister company, Compass Energy: “Compass Energy is owned by the same group, which has given us a head start in terms of accessing alternative fuels and sustainably powering our operation. We’ve recently been trialling HVO fuels on some of our fleets, both within Compass Energy and Rockley Transport. We’re seeing lots of benefits from that, most importantly it provides an environmental advantage, reducing the company’s reliance on fossil fuels. In addition, we’re working with several agencies on potentially trialling hydrogen fuels in our vehicles, which would really put us ahead of the curve,” Stuart reveals.
“In five years, I’d like to see the majority or all our fleet operating on either HVO or hydrogen fuel. Turning the combined use of various sustainable fuel alternatives into a commercial advantage is our next step from there,” he concludes.