Best in show
Neat exhaust installation
One of the summer highlights at the truck shows is the latest XF510 run by family-run Lowfield Haulage, which claimed the inaugural Daf Driver Magazine’s Best Show Truck.
Even the suspension controls get the custom touch
I
n 2011 Steve Gighall was invited by truck spotlight bar specialists Kelsa to put his new truck on their stand at Truckfest. He enjoyed it. Ever since his presence at the industry’s premier truck show has grown. “Now when we go to Truckfest at Peterborough it’s as a company; Lowfield Haulage,” he explained. This year he took his new DAF XF Super Space Cab 6x2 tag along with seven other vehicles from an 11-strong fleet, collecting a ‘highly commended’ in the Best Kept Fleet category. “That,” he said, “was pleasing as it rewards all the trucks.” Individually the XF won DAF Driver Magazine’s Best Show Truck at Peterborough. Editor Matthew Eisenegger believed the truck stood out for its specification and application. “A clear winner,” he said. Gighall specified it with a twin-wheel tag axle from the PACCAR factory in Eindhoven, the bodywork was done by Tranz Tech, based in Wisbech, while an interior with a state-of-the-art sound system and leather seats (to name two) was completed by the Dutch company Noah’s Cab Interiors. At Truckfest Newark it captured the Best New Working Truck award. Lowfield Haulage is based at Whitgift, near Goole, East Yorkshire. The trucks work out of Immingham docks hauling inbound European trailers across the UK. He admits to being a little lavish with each truck but there are practical reasons too. Optional extras add weight to the tractor but as incoming trailers with cargo rarely get above 27 tonnes he can go for a longer chassis to fit a larger fuel tank, as he did on the second new XF tag, to suit his business. Before 2011 fleet additions were second hand. Buying late-year trucks or ex-demos helped him grow the company prudently after taking over from his father, Nick Gighall, in 2000. “He started the company in 1973 and named it after our original base at Lowfield House, Reedness, just down the road,” Steve explained. 18 DAF Driver // Autumn 2016
The first Daf on the Lowfield Haulage fleet was a brand new 2300 4x2 tractor in orange bought in 1980.
His father sold cars before moving into commercial vehicles at the Triangle Garage, in Kingston-Upon-Hull, selling Commer and Dodge. When a part-ex Commer flat-bed six-wheeler rigid came in Nick decided to buy it and employ a driver, while continuing to sell trucks. When he realised haulage paid well he quit the day job and took to the road in a second truck. Early customers included Plumrose Foods, Carlsberg and BRS out of nearby Goole. Steve joined his father on road trips but when he left school in 1983 he joined local company Sweyne Coaches as an apprentice mechanic. Once he qualified he helped his father with maintenance and drove the trucks with ‘L’ plates. Steve would spend weekends working on the trucks. “Saturday,” he recalled, “was maintenance day.” Like many sons joining a family business, he was thrown in at the deep end. He took his test in Grimsby using his dad’s truck and a 40ft container trailer. “On the way back my mum collected dad at J2 off the M180, and I set off for Kellogg’s at Trafford Park, Manchester. I was on my own,” he said. Much of the early years was general haulage but in the late 1970s the company started to do
traction only hauling trailers out of the docks at Hull for Ellermann Keyway Shipping Company. “At the time ferry trailers were a new thing. Basic ferry trailers were a metal frame with a sheet thrown over the cargo. “Before ferry trailers you’d run with your own trailer to collect a load that had been shipped over. You’d need several trailers so each could be loaded while you were on the road,” he explained. “Traction meant not having your own trailers and all the headaches that come with it.” When Ellermann Keyway pulled out of shipping Nick found work with other shipping companies. Today Lowfield Haulage works primarily for Cobelfret (better known as CLdN). While the company has had to adapt to the ever-changing working environment it has also had to survive several domestic upheavals. Nick, now 79, only fully retired this year. Being a Type 1 Diabetic, his license was rescinded in 1993. He moved into the office to concentrate on running the business. In 1998, Nick’s wife Cynthia passed away having only just been diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year. Steve said: “My mum was the driving force behind the company. My dad was quite happy with three trucks. With his health and
A secondhand Leyland Buffalo was Nick Gighall’s first tractor unit, bought in 1973.
disappointment at losing his license he lost a little enthusiasm. The business had been through a lot, with some companies going bang owing us a lot of money. He might even have sold it and got out. My mum kept at him to keep it going so that I could take it over and to his credit he did. I wanted to grow the business; she saw that it could be my future.” In 1999 Steve married Sharon and the following year took over the company from his father, and relocated from Lowfield House to Whitgift. In 2005 Sharon left her job as a veterinary nurse to join Lowfield Haulage full time. This coincided with starting a family, Jodie was born that year, allowing Sharon to work from home. She is a partner in the company and handles the administration and the back office. In 2011 Ellis was born. Buying second hand trucks allowed the company to grow but not too big or too fast. “We expanded the fleet, usually when a truck got to the point that it didn’t owe us anything, and then we’d buy another second hand one,” he said. That changed in 2011. “We wanted to give a new driver a new truck because we knew he would look after it. All our trucks have a large cab and a strong specification. I firmly believe that good trucks attract good drivers and a happy driver is a productive driver,” he stated. Lowfield Haulage now employ nine drivers who drive nine working trucks, Steve has a show truck – an MAN 18-680 V8 XXL 4x2 left-hand-drive on a 59-plate – and there is a spare truck. He tends to hop between trucks acting as cover. MAN make up the bulk of the fleet so to bring in two new DAF XFs in the last two years is a departure. “We decided to buy a DAF XF510 E6 Super-Space Cab with a four point four-tonne mid-lift axle from Imperial Commercials in Hull. It was the right truck at the right time. Then we bought another XF. The driver Steve Twigg chose it for the manoeuvrability, ride handling and extra fuel capacity,” he said. ● Autumn 2016 // DAF Driver 19