26 | PROFILE
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The winning combination for Martin Ryan Haulage
ased in Cappamore, County Limerick, Martin Ryan Haulage Ltd, trading as Martin Ryan & Sons is a family run business. Founded by Martin Ryan Senior in 1960, his three sons run the business today. The family background has had a clear influence on the fi rm’s development, and it is still shaping their ambitions today. After Martin Senior’s passing in 1999, the brothers Martin, Brendan and Declan stepped up and took over the running of the business. From earlier years washing trucks in the yard to sitt ing as directors of the fi rm, the brothers have always been hands-on, now working as transport planners with daily customer contact and on occasion still gett ing behind the wheel when necessary.
In fact the fi rm thrived. From the 10-15 vehicles in operation when the brothers took over directorship of the fi rm, they now have some 50 plus trucks on the road. And it’s not just the dairy industry that can account for the fi rm’s success. Brendan puts that down to the skill and dedication of the 70 staff across the office, garage, and of course the drivers themselves. But it’s also significant that Martin Ryan Haulage has a very diverse business, which Brendan says goes back to his father who “was a great believer in not keeping all your eggs in one basket.” They now have a huge variety of offerings, from seasonal work such as agricultural supplies and specialised waste water disposal, to more constant work such as waste haulage, and of course container and tanker transport.
alone road fridges which do continental work on a weekly basis. We contract tanker work and low-loader work, operate with flat trailers, curtainsiders, bulk tippers etc. We have a broad mixed fleet!”
“From the container side, we offer stand
Previously they had been impressed with the
But the family influence doesn’t stop there. Another brother took over the family farm and the Ryan's roots in the dairy industry played an important part in keeping the firm alive through the recession. “Traditionally our business would be in conjunction with the farm. We kept that connection in our transport operations,” said Brendan Ryan. “We just felt that here in Ireland, it’s a big industry and that it will always be there. Other industries can rise and fall. In that period of the downturn we felt the dairy industry had a part to play in our survival through that difficult time. We saw other transport companies that were heavily dependent on the construction industry, and that would’ve taken its toll.” FLEETTRANSPORT | MARCH 17
Martin, Declan and Brendan Ryan
Indeed, this ranges from 00 plate Volvos, supplied by McCarthy Commercials which are still “standing the test of time” to the latest new models, just purchased. For example, Ryan’s has just taken delivery of four new Renault Range Ts. The experience with the model goes back to 2014 when they took delivery of Ireland’s fi rst Renault T on a two year contract from Setanta Vehicle Sales, Dublin. Over the course of this period, Ryans decided to buy it outright, and to invest in more.