COMPANY PORTRAIT
■ Their fleet consists of semi-trailers with Jeepdollys as well as Interdollys
The third generation is running the family business . Transports Chervier is a leading company but there have been difficult times too . We talk to Alain Chervier , the son of Louis , who in 1947 collected wood from the forest for the regional sawmills with his ox-drawn cart .
THE EARLY YEARS Alain : “ In the period just after the Second World War there was great demand in the region for road transport . In 1947 my father
■ Alain Chervier : bought a second-hand Berliet “ All our drivers like working with truck and started a freight service a Nooteboom trailer ” between Chauffailles , Saint-
Etienne , Lyon and Roanne . His customers were regional companies , such as weavers , who wanted to sell their products in ‘ the big city ’. But he also transported coal and beverages . The business flourished and in the early fifties a second truck was put into service . This Unic had a sleeper cab which made it suitable for longer trips . Before long the red / grey Chervier colours could be spotted not only in the Rhone-Alpes region but also in other big French cities , even in Paris .”
JEAN FRICAUD “ 1957 was an important year in the history of Transports Chervier . In that year Jean Fricaud started up a factory in Chauffailles . He had a contract with the Italian brothers Bruneri for the licensed production in France of the Yumbo excavator . The development of excavators was still in its infancy , but the users were enthusiastic . At first the machines were
transported by several different companies , but Jean Fricaud wanted to work with one single transport operator . Negotiations with various companies followed , but my father got the job . Of course our company had the advantage of being located at walking distance of the Yumbo factory .”
HEAVY TRANSPORT “ Our Unic ZU 122 could carry two Yumbo excavators : one on the truck and one on the trailer . With 150 hp the Unic dragged itself twice a week through the mountains to the German distributor in Kehl . That ’ s 2,000 km each week with a heavily-loaded vehicle that could go no faster than walking pace when climbing . In the years that followed the machines got bigger all the time and our fleet grew . We delivered Yumbo machines to customers and dealers and sometimes took them to the ports of Marseille and Le Havre to be exported .”
EXCAVATORS ONLY “ The business did so well that during the sixties my father decided to focus on the transport of machinery only . Yumbo opened a new factory in 1961 and construction work was going on all over France . The weight of the excavators increased rapidly and around 1970 we had two Magirus- Deutz tractors for the really heavy jobs . The first one had 310 hp and the second one was a powerful 6x4 tractor with a V10 engine and 340 hp . My father was very progressive in his thinking . One semi-trailer was equipped with air suspension , which in those days was unique .”
GRADUAL SUCCESSION “ I have worked in my father ’ s transport business since 1968 . We were never short of jobs . In our own garage I gained experience in repairing trucks and trailers . We even did the paint spraying ourselves . The entire fleet was driving for Yumbo . In spite of its enormous growth the Yumbo business remained quite vulnerable . They only delivered two models , one tracked and one wheeled . Their competitors – headed by Poclain – could deliver a greater choice of models .”
13