Move to fill a void put trucking firm on road to success

Kenya’s major highways are always dotted with long distance trucks transporting cargo like imported petroleum, vehicles and foodstuff from the port of Mombasa to landlocked neighbouring countries.

One company involved in this business is Multiple Hauliers East Africa Limited, a 40-year-old firm conceptualised by four “truck enthusiast” friends in a South C yard.

Rajinder Baryan, 61, the chairman and managing director of the company, told Business Daily that the firm started off with three Leyland trucks bought through an asset financing deal with a local bank.

The friends’ main line of business at the time was transporting agricultural produce destined for export from Uganda to Mombasa and kerosene in the opposite direction.

Their business today has a fleet of 1,500 trucks which cover over 50 million kilometres every year between Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda in the process propelling the company to an annual turnover of Sh25 billion.

Multiple Hauliers transports petroleum products, industrial raw materials, cement (both raw material and the finished product), steel products and containerised carg,o among several other types of high value goods.

“My partners and I recognised that there was a big void in the bulk haulage industry in the region that needed to be filled,’’ said Mr Baryan at his Embakasi office.

The company, which was incorporated in 1982, moved on to clinch deals with oil companies like Caltex, Agip, and Shell (that now trades under the name Vivo Energy) with Uganda remaining their main destination.

As the company’s business and fleet grew, space at their leased facility in South C became limited while their residential neighbours increasingly complained about noise pollution. Mr Baryan and his business partners were forced to relocate their business to Lunga Lunga Road in Industrial Area.

“We had been in business for less than two years when this happened. We were unprofitable for several years but eventually we were in the clear,” he said.

The business expanded further, increasing its fleet to between 350 and 400 trucks in the late 1990s, forcing them once again to look for another site that could accommodate them.

In 2003, the firm secured 12 acres of land (at a cost of Sh50 million) along Airport South Road in Embakasi where they built an enhanced parking depot and moved in two years later.

Multiple Hauliers has branches in Mombasa, Kisumu, Busia, Malaba, Kampala and Juba. Their Kenyan clients include Bamburi Cement, Tata Chemicals Magadi, Athi River Mining and Damco. In Uganda, they serve Shell Uganda and two power generating firms—Jacobsen Uganda and Electro-Maxx.

“Uganda is still out core market; demand for transport logistics has to this landlocked country has kept growing,” said Mr Baryan. “The company’s greatest asset is our drivers. Their commitment and integrity has helped sustain this business into a profitable venture.”

Multiple Hauliers has spawned three subsidiary companies— Multiple Solutions Limited which is involved in clearing and forwarding while another subsidiary Multiple ICD Kenya Limited focuses on container handling, bulk cargo storage and warehousing. The third company is RT East Africa Limited which assembles trailers imported as parts from Randon, the third largest trailer manufacturer in the world.
RT East Africa also deals in Volkswagen commercial vehicles and also sells MAN buses and trucks in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan. The Multiple Group also owns, Porsche Centre Nairobi, the local franchise-holder of the German luxury car dealer. The dealership, which was set up shop locally in late 2013 is managed by Mr Baryan’s son.

Recent data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) shows that Mercedes dealer DT Dobie sold 53 units in the six months ended June, emerging as the fastest moving marque in the high-end car market. This saw it overtake Porsche sales that stood at 47 cars in the same period, having rallied to top the luxury segment in the whole of last year after moving 125 units.

The rise of Porsche is mainly driven by individuals seeking trendy, high-performance cars. The Multiple Group employs a total of 3,000 employees, over half of them being based at the parent logistics company.

Multiple Hauliers is also among the 12 companies recently shortlisted to be the concessionaires of the first phase of the Mombasa port second container terminal.

The concession is for 25 years beginning 2016 when the construction of the terminal is scheduled to be complete. It will be the first terminal to be managed by a private company in a move aimed at improving services.

“The strength of all our companies is sheer hard work, dedication and teamwork from our directors and a team of professional and experienced managers. They are empowered to make decisions without any external interference,” said Baryan.

Mr Baryan’s advice to emerging entrepreneurs is to be resilient, pursue investments they understand, reward the talented individuals in their workforce and also invest revenues back into their business.

“Health and safety plays a very critical role in our company. Our work safety slogan is “I Love My Family” meaning we have to work hard and safely as a team to feed our families,” he added.

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