Striding across the seas, Hendrick European takes its fleet performance very seriously
By Dougie Rankine
PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE McCANN
We took a trip to Dublin earlier this year to meet up with Hendrick European. The firm was established in the 1970s, and in recent times has adapted to changes in the industry by expanding into a versatile pan-European outfit – with a fantastic mixed fleet of trucks. It was at Truckfest Ireland that we first spoke to Keith Hendrick, who was busy polishing his immaculate Scania 143H, recently restored following over two decades of hard work and more than 2000,000 km. That’s no mean feat for a truck that had to deal with an Irish road network which, up until recently, was badly out of date and in a poor state of repair.
The H designation means it’s a heavy-duty chassis, and it proved its worth over time.
While the Scania had run so well for so long, it had become part of the family. Speaking of family, it was Keith’s grandfather Patrick who started the business almost 40 years ago, with his son Alan taking the reins in the 1980s, then in turn Keith and brother Paul became involved. “In the beginning, we ran containers and flat trailers all over Ireland, but we’ve always been based in Dublin,” says Keith. “In the early days we had Hinos, AECs, Leyland Buffalos, a real mixed fleet, and we’ve continued that way to this day.”
As featured in the February 2015 issue of Trucking. Buy the magazine here
