Actros trucks are the stars of the show
DRIVERS
We recently featured Stagefreight driver Ant Hayes’ story of how he transported an 11ft sculpture of the BFG made entirely of cakes! Stagefreight specialise in haulage for the entertainment sector including music, film, theatre, exhibitions and events. We caught up with their drivers to gain an insight into the fast-paced world of show business.
Tea anyone?
Driver Ant Hayes was lucky enough to deliver a giant BFG statue of sweet treats on behalf of popular cake company Mr Kipling. However his culinary adventures don’t stop there – he’s also transported a giant teapot across Yorkshire.
The project was for Yorkshire Tea, who called on Stagefreight to help them with their PR campaign ‘Tour De Yorkshire’ which saw the larger-than-life teapot driven around on a large float.
Taking the lead.
Stagefreight has several high profile clients, including the English National Ballet, Opera North and Northern Ballet, to name a few. For these projects, experienced event drivers are required who can handle the pressure – luckily the company’s dedicated lead drivers always deliver. Stuart Douglas is Opera North’s lead driver and is responsible for organising the loading and unloading of props on 16 trailers for three different shows. The shows run simultaneously at venues, on different nights, so the pace is fast and Stuart needs to stay focused and organised. As he describes it, “Good attention to detail and staying on top of the plan is essential.”
Keeping up with the pace of show business.
Paul Garfit is the English National Ballet’s lead driver. He’s been in theatre transport for 12 years, and thoroughly enjoys the challenges theatre jobs bring. Paul often leads a fleet of six trucks for the English National Ballet tours which occur across the country. He recognises that show business can at times be hectic, so his advice to young or new drivers is, “Always take your time when driving and observe all situations carefully”.
Building rapport with clients.
The lead driver of the Northern Ballet team is Allan Spencer and he’s typically on tour with the production team for nine months. As the drivers are away with the theatre companies for quite a long time, it’s important they build good relationships with the clients and their production teams to ensure smooth operations.
Escorting celebrities.
Stagefreight’s deliveries also take them to Europe. Driver Ian Lowe spent almost a year with the music legend Joan Baez. He and his team accompanied her across the whole of Europe on her ‘Fare Thee Well Tour.’ Destinations included Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin, Bratislava, Sarajevo, Brussels, Dublin, Prague, London and many more.
“Good attention to detail and staying on top of the plan is essential.”
– Stuart Douglas
The other half of the team – the trucks.
Stagefreight truckers travel up and down the UK on a regular basis, visiting major cities as well as the event capitals of Europe. For this reason, reliable and well-equipped vehicles are a necessity, so they rely on the Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks with Euro VI engines. Several European cities already have clean air initiatives in place and now London has too with its ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) and several other UK cities will follow suit.
Stagefreight directors, Ian Uttley and Chris Adgie invested in a predominately Euro VI fleet to ensure drivers could access cities without hassle or extra charge. This isn’t just part of the business plan though. All Stagefreight drivers receive specific in-house training for eco-friendly driving and each team member signs the “no engine idling” policy. This is a commitment to switch engines off within three minutes of the truck standing idle.
An award-winning company.
In fact, Stagefreight have recently been recognised for their environmental efforts with two awards from SME News. The company scooped up ‘Eco-friendly Road Fleet of the Year 2019’ and ‘Best Events Transport Company 2019’ and are very proud of their achievements. As Ian says “We are very excited about winning these awards. They reflect our commitment to our clients and on reducing our company’s carbon footprint.”
The company has grown over the last three years and none of this would have been possible without the dedicated Stagefreight drivers and the fleet that supports them. Chris explains, “We wouldn’t have gotten this far without the fantastic work of our drivers. I’m grateful to all of them for the great work they’ve done and will continue to do on Stagefreight’s behalf.”
There’s no business like transport business!
Check out the latest driver profiles at www.stagefreight.com/news/
Where does your work take you?
Do you work with some interesting clients? Or does your work take you all over the country in your Mercedes-Benz truck? We’d love to know more – share the details below.
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