TERRY SMITH takes us on a journey round the world of Eddie Stobart.
Eddie Stobart was born in Cumbria in April 1929, he married in 1951 and had four children, a daughter and three sons one who was named Edward. Eddie Snr had initially been involved in the agricultural business starting his company in the late 1940’s.
A Recent release in the Oxford Diecast range is this recent livery under reference OD76SNG005
Eddie bought his first lorry, a Guy Invincible four-wheeler truck, second-hand from the local garage in 1960, and had it re-painted in his favourite choice of colours of red and green. He took over the collection of slag, a waste product of steelworks used in fertiliser. After a local company went out of business, he purchased their two Ford Thames Trader trucks which were then also painted in his colours, now with his logo on the doors.
A Larger scale version of their well recognised fleet is this O Scale (1:43) version from Cararama
A contract with ICI for storage of basic slag in 1963 enabled expansion of the business, and it became a limited company. Eddie continued to run the company until 1976, when son Edward took over running the road haulage business, and the name, Eddie Stobart Ltd, becoming its chairman - with other parts of the business going to other family members, although Eddie did keep a warehouse up until 1989 and the title of non-executive Chairman until 1992.
It is not just haulers that appear in their fleet. Eddie Stobart also use other vehicles like this Car Transporter
After his acquisition in 1976, Edward decided to move his fleet of eight lorries to Carlisle to be closer to the M6 motorway. Edward was a stickler for keeping the trucks clean and was often seen washing his own fleet. This paid off as the trucks stood out on the UK’s main roads and motorways, attracting more clientele, eventually including the likes of Tesco. By 1985, the fleet had grown to 26 trucks and by 1990 a staggering 300 such was the company’s rapid growth, earning Stobart the ‘Haulier of the Year award’ for 1990.
The livery has changed thougout the years paving the way for interesting varients like this Highline Trailer
The business continued to grow into one of the largest and most recognised privately owned transport and distribution companies in the UK, with over 2,500 trucks on the road. The diecast model manufacturers spotted early on the potential of the collectability of trucks finished in this now iconic livery, and one can put together a wonderful collection of models bearing the name Eddie Stobart.