English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 5 - 2018 | Page 25

TRANSPORT SEGMENTS IS MAINTENANCE CARRIED OUT IN-HOUSE? Erwin: “We take care of the minor maintenance procedures ourselves, such as changing tyres, greasing and changing the oil. For the rest of the maintenance and repairs we go to the supplier. There will be more space for maintenance in the new building, but we are transport operators first. We are happy to leave the maintenance of our specialised fleet to mechanics who know the vehicles inside and out.” COMPETITION FROM OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES? Erwin: “Hardly any. The competition doesn’t come from Eastern Europe and not even from the Netherlands or France. The only colleagues who transport access platforms are small businesses and self-employed driv- ers. A handful of these self-employed drivers drive for us.” ALL EXEPTIONAL IS A FAMILY BUSINESS Erwin: “All Exeptional is a family business twice over. My two brothers and my sister have different positions within the company - as has Kristof ’s brother. But perhaps more importantly: we can count on all our employees. Their commitment, flexibility and service are what ‘All Exeptional’ stands for. Our company culture is characterised by a no-nonsense mentality, no blah blah blah but work hard.” PLANS FOR THE COMING YEARS? Erwin: “We have plenty to go on with just now. First of all we have to complete the move to our new premises. We have much more space there. More office space, more storage space, more space for mainte- nance and better parking for the vehicles in our fleet. First we are going to convert part of the building. Then we are going to replace a number of trailers and expand our heavy vehicle fleet. All Exeptional will experi- ence many changes this year.” Only 50% of the abnormal transport business can be learned. The other half is passion for the profession. Erwin and Kristof have this passion for abnormal transport in spades. In addition to working in the office they regularly hit the road themselves, to help with heavy loads and they also do the escorting.” ■ WORKING AT HEIGHT Working at height is considered to be one of the most dangerous kinds of work. Due to the introduction of clear legislation, working at height has become much safer in recent years. In 2001 the European Directive 2001/45/EG came into force, aimed at minimising the number of accidents when using ladders, steps and scaffolding. Subsequently the directive was included in the legislation of several EU member states. In practice the directive means that only for very small jobs a ladder may be used. In all other cases scaffolding or an access platform must be used. THE WORLD MARKET Worldwide almost 90,000 access platforms were sold in 2016. More than 42 % of these are scissor lifts and other types, including hydraulic telescopic lifts, come to 58% of the market. Internationally access platforms are referred to as AWPs (acronym for Aerial Work Platform). The currently favourable economic outlook will further increase the sales of AWPs. Between 2016 and 2026 worldwide sales are expected to rise by approx. 6.5 %. 25