Catering for all your needs
December 31, 2009
For the past 31 years, Duffy Commercials have been trading in the motor and commercial industry, providing a wide range of services to a customer base that covers many counties.
For this year's edition of the Monaghan Yearbook, we profile the Cootehill based company and speak to Barry Duffy about the many services that they provide and how the location of the business sees customers come from three different provinces to avail of the facilities.
Duffy Commercials was initially set up by Barry's parents Arthur and Dympna back in 1978 and they are still involved in the day-to-day running of the business.
Having traded for so long as a main Fiat dealer, the decision was made five years ago to make a complete switch from cars to light commercials and trucks. It was a brave decision, but one that the Duffy's have never regretted.
"At the time Fiat wanted us to move to one of the major towns, but that was something that we weren't willing to do. After a lot of consideration, the decision was made to switch from cars altogether and concentrate on HGV's. We had already been selling light commercials, so the transition wasn't as hard as many might think," said Barry.
Operating from their own sources, Barry and his staff found that trucks bought from the U.K were generally better maintained due to the road networks over there as well as being cheaper, but through their large network of contacts, they can also get trucks in Ireland and on the continent. They could also source any marque required, given the fact that they were not tied to any main dealer, which gives them a lot more leverage. Before long, the customer base started to grow and they have now become a major player in the second hand truck sale market.
"It's going ok, sales have obviously been affected since the recession started, but the second hand market is holding its own. We can source many vehicles from the lightest commercial to any range of HGV. A customer usually knows what they want and we just go get their preferred choice.
"It's a tough time for everyone in the trade, but hopefully we can get through it. However, people are shopping around for the best deal possible at the moment and we pride ourselves on being very price competitive. We always try to have between 25 and 30 trucks on the forecourt at any given time. This gives the customer a taste of what is on offer."
Having over thirty years experience in the industry is a major plus for any business and Duffy Commercials have used all their guile to safeguard their future.
Following a major investment in the business four years ago, Duffy Commercial now has a state-of-the-art workshop as well as a DOE test centre. The significance of testing light commercials and HGV's has increased ten fold in recent years and the stringent test means that vehicles have to meet a high standard to pass.
"We've invested a lot of money in this end of the business in particular. We have two bays, one for LGV's and one for HGV's. We are kept quite busy testing and on average would test 16 vehicles per day. We have two testers working full time.
"There is huge amount of legislation involved in this area and it is important to keep the equipment used up to date. The testers are sent off on refresher courses every year and there is a new manual being introduced in the near future that will give all the guidelines for a test. Attention to detail is vital and everything is monitored down to the last percent."
The location of Duffy Commercials is key to their business and Barry revealed that they have hauliers coming from as far as Donegal for testing.
"There is no heavy commercial testing in the south of Donegal. There is only one in the north, so instead of travelling up to Letterkenny, lads bring their trucks down to us. We'd have customers from Sligo, Monaghan, Cavan, Fermanagh, Armagh and parts of Meath. The customer base would be very large.
"If a truck fails the test, but only needs minor repair work, we will offer to fix it there and then and put it through the test. We know that hauliers want their vehicles on the road as much as is legally possible and downtime is frowned upon within the industry."
Duffy Commercials also specialise in pre-test work and through their wide range of specialised equipment from exhaust emission testing to two 10 tonne gantry cranes, no job is too big or small.
"We carry out full commercial servicing on all makes and sizes of vehicles. We have two 120ft pit lanes with full servicing capabilities. Repair work is also something that we cater for and we do free estimates on vehicles."
Barry acknowledges the fact that customer satisfaction is the number one aim in a successful business and to this end, he and his staff of 12, endeavour to provide that.
"Providing a top quality service is the most important aspect of the business, if you can't do that then the customers will go elsewhere and who can blame them. So, it is up to us to ensure that they receive the level of service that they have become accustomed too."
Following the major investment a few years back, there are no big plans to expand the business any further although Barry did admit that it was important to re-invest in the equipment.
"We will certainly be investing in the diagnostic side of things. It is essential to do so as most of that equipment becomes obsolete after a few years. Asides from that there won't be too many changes made.
"We've a loyal staff here, many of who have been with us for years and they have played a huge part in that success of the company, which we are appreciative of. They are highly trained and experienced, which makes a huge difference," he concluded.
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