Heritage Commercials Magazine - capturing the spirit of vintage days

Federated Road Transport Services Ltd

KCP (Kirby’s Country Produce) of Little Glen near Blaby on the southern side of Leicester operated between 20 and 30 vehicles distributing on behalf of Silcocks Cattle Feeds, from Leicester, London, Hull and King’s Lynn. The company was sold off in 1948 prior to being nationalised and was run by Arnold Kirby and his brother.

In 1941/42 Arnold Kirby had also bought Federated Conveyers Ltd, a clearing house with an office at 185 Tower Bridge Road in London. This firm cleared the docks and wharves on Tooley Street between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. At the end of the Second World War some of the produce moved included Danish bacon, Polish eggs and Priority tea, and this operation was managed by John Kirby, Arnold Kirby’s son. At the time you could stand on the Tower Bridge and see dockers, dockside cranes, and ships berthed three-a-breast on these wharves.

With the KCP lorries having been sold off in 1948, Federated found itself without transport. However, it couldn’t just buy replacements as the ‘A’ licences had also gone with the KCP lorries, so to get back into haulage the firm had to buy old or even scrap lorries that still had ‘A’ licences. This cost around £100 per ton – a considerable amount of money at the time.

The first vehicle purchased was an AEC eight-wheeler, and this was followed by some lighter Bedfords, some of which came from Douglas Weirs of Leicester. BMC, Morris and Austin lorries also joined the fleet and some four-wheelers were converted to artics with Tasker or BTC trailers.

Federated also acquired Abbots Body Builders, and this was managed by Keith Kirby. Abbots had previously been the company’s body repairers and painters
and it became part of Federated Garages with its head office at 62 Nicholas Street, Leicester. This was also the operating base for several Atkinsons and AEC four-, six- and eight-wheelers.

In 1956 part of the old POW camp on Fardon Rd, Market Harborough, was purchased. The yard for the prison lorries was a large asphalt area where the second warehouse on Fardon Road now stands. This was ideal for the fleet to park some of the trucks and trailers from the Nicholas Street site. The fleet built up very quickly and so in 1961 the first warehouse was built, followed by offices. This warehouse later became the workshop for the fleet.

It was about this time that the name Federated Conveyers was changed to Federated Road Transport Services Ltd. Road Haulage was steadily progressing and the fleet was updated to include ERF, Ford Transcontinental, Ford ‘D’ series, Seddons, Dodge, Foden and Scammells. Transport offices were also opened at Trafford Park in Manchester, West Bromwich and Norwich. The London office moved to Gravesend, and a new storage and warehousing facility at Melton Mowbray was opened.

Several other haulage companies were also purchased, including C J Sunders of Peckham and Springthorpe Transport Ltd of Leicester to name just two.

At this time the company was running around 50 trucks and 40 trailers, and customers included British Steel, Cassloid-BXL, Standard Soap, Bunkleys Steel, Trafford Park Steel, Pedigree Pet Food, British Shoe, Symingtons, Tungsten Batteries and British Gypsum.

Road haulage developed quickly throughout these years, but in 1981 the first depression hit Federated badly with British Steel at Corby closing two blast furnaces and the loss of the pet food business when Pedigree put a rail connection into its works at Melton.

The company ceased trading in the late 1980s.

Words & Photography: Colin Chesterman