A LIFE-long dream was realised when Mick McCulloch opened the region’s first multi-million dollar, around-the-clock truck workshop in Tamworth.
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The McCulloch Bulk Haulage and Glen Artney Truck Repairs owner threw open the expansive workshop in Westdale last Saturday, on the back of driving demand for weekend truck repairs.
Mr McCulloch has run Tamworth-based transport company, McCulloch Bulk Haulage, for 29 years.
He started his apprenticeship with RC Barber and Sons in Tamworth in 1975, and bought his first truck in 1988.
He has been in overdrive since those humble beginnings, now operating 21 freight trucks up and down the eastern seaboard, from Adelaide to Cairns.
But he identified the need to have his trucks serviced on weekends, which saw him take over Mick Hayes Transport Services & Mechanical Repairs on Manilla Road about five years ago.
We saw an itch in the market that no one was offering.
- Mick McCulloch
“Our trucks needed to be serviced during the weekend so we wanted a way to get utilisation out of it,” Mr McCulloch said.
“We saw an itch in the market that no one was offering.
“We used to have to service our own trucks, so we needed a workshop big enough to service others too.”
So Mr McCulloch made his dreams a reality by opening a state-of-the-art truck repair and maintenance workshop, and wash.
The workshop features two 26-metre pits capable of holding a 68-tonne loaded B-double “no problem”, a 5-tonne overhead crane to lift things up to the storage area, aluminium wheel polisher.
The next closest seven-days-a-week workshop, open all day and night over weekends, is in Newcastle.
The business is in the process of shifting from Manilla Road to its huge new premises – measuring 50-metres long, 30-metres wide and towering at 13.5-metres high.
In June, the business, which employs 20 staff, will also boast a seven-day-a-week wash bay.
Opening the enormous workshop has been a lifelong dream for Mr McCulloch.
“It’s all about trying to deliver the right job for the customer," he said. “We’re hoping our workshop business is as successful as our transport business – or even better.”
The new business in the Glen Artney estate, Westdale, was officially opened by Tamworth mayor Col Muyrray last Saturday.
