Craven Transport was set up in 1993 by Andrew Craven, with one lorry, which he used to move grain off the companies farm to local mills.  A couple more lorries were then introduced to keep up with the ever growing farm and it was decided that haulage would grow even more and so it did.  By 2003 the company had 10 lorries running with bulk tippers moving various commodities such as grain, sand, stone and fertilizer.  Curtainsiders were then introduced due to a demand in work.  These were a good investment to the company, until a down turn in the industry taking a hit on the rates, meaning that the bulk tippers were and still are the main source of work and income for the company.  

 

In 2010 Mr Craven decided to expand the company further and in September he acquired Maddison Transport, taking over its customers, drivers and vehicles.  This was a big step forward for the company and expanded the fleet to 26 lorries with 27 tipping trailers.  The two companies combined into one and the expansion was complete. The rebranding of the Maddison name was complete by using a new vinyl wrap, this was found to be a lot cheaper than using the traditional paint and also gave a new design on the livery and moved Cravens on to a new dimension. 

 

The company then started to expand its work and instead of hauling grain and sugar beet which the company was built on, it started to haul sand, stone and non hazardous Fertilizer.  Due to this, all the drivers had to become EPIC trained to enter the quarries and plants to get loaded or tipped.  It also meant that flashing beacons were also fitted to all the vehicles to comply with the health and safety regulations in place.  Due to Cravens hauling various commodities the company is accredited to TASCC (Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops), FIAS (Fertilizer Industry Assurance Scheme) and has a Waste Carriers Licence.

 

Due to the company moving forward it was decided a new tacking and computer systems were to be put in place.  Mr Craven sort the advice of Truckcom and in February 2011 a fully functional system was put in place which included a state of the art vehicle tracking system.  With the company continuing to grow another member of the transport team was introduced in June 2012 when Tom Smalley was employed from another local haulier. Tom now takes control of the planning and organising of the fleet. We are now moving over 450,000 tonnes of sugarbeet a season and are showing we are capable of moving and catering for high tonnages.