Company History

1946

The Founder, Mr. Essop Sulayman, the late father, grandfather, great grandfather and great-great grandfather of the current generation Sulayman family starts the business in Cape Town as a Cartage Contractor with one truck (1946 Bedford 5 tonner) doing household removals and moving new & second-hand furniture from furniture Dealers, Upholsterers and Auctioneers in the Cape Town area to their customers throughout the Cape Peninsula.

In those days it was customary for one-man operator Cartage Contractors such as the Founder, Mr. Rueben Kaye, Founder of Jack Wellstead (Pty) Ltd, who later acquired Pickford’s Removals and Stuttafords Van Lines and Mr. Bernie King, Founder of Kings Transport (Pty) Ltd, to park their trucks on Riebeeck Square in Bree Street Cape Town where customers would approach them for cartage services. They shared many experiences there and progressed to build their respective companies, acquire business premises etc. and remained business associates for the rest of their careers.

1957 Continued

To the moving public the Company offers customers local, as well as, republic-wide household removals with full packing of their personals possessions, crating of special items, Insurance and storage facilities at the Church Street warehouse. There was always this dual aspect to the business of “Commercial and Household” which later proved to be a successful commercial mix as slow business activity in one sector would be offset by early recovery in the other, with revenue streams from captive storage being the overall stabilizing factor.

1964

The first truck & trailer combination is acquired (1964 Ford Thames Trader 8 tonner with 4-wheel pup trailer). This vehicle configuration increases payload capacity and subsequently increases revenue earnings on long distance trips. This vehicle runs weekly trips to Port Elizabeth, East London and environs for regular commercial clients and by the sheer volume of goods it soon became evident that another such vehicle is required.

1965

The Company relocates to new premises at 35 Second Street Maitland with offices, warehouse facilities and enclosed vehicle parking – phone number is 51-6292. The list of commercial clients grows substantially and includes amongst others, companies such as Defy Industries, Premier Wire, Barlows, Plasket Fabrics, Sea Sprite Ltd, Sankey Sheldon, Atlantic Knitting Mills and Shelco Shelving.

1966

The first mechanical horse, semi-trailer and trailer combination is acquired (1965 Leyland Beaver m/horse with trailers – gross combination length 72 feet). This vehicle is a game changer and the Company increases its services and operates weekly trips to the Eastern Cape specifically Port Elizabeth and East London also servicing areas such as destinations along the Garden Route. Scheduled deliveries to the Boland area, Swartland and the West Coast regions are undertaken on a weekly basis. Commercial clients deliver their goods to the Company warehouse daily for onward delivery to these destinations. Commercial goods are combined with household removals to maximize trip revenues.

The second horse and trailer combination is acquired later that year (1965 Foden with semi-trailer). The long distance fleet operates on scheduled weekly trips and connects with scheduled return loads from various commercial clients at the destination end such as Beard, Ellis & Berlyn and Hoover in East London, and Pepla Industries Ltd and National Cash Registers (Pty) Ltd in Port Elizabeth. Pre-arranged and scheduled household removal return loads from Removal Companies such as Steer & Co and Border Cartage in East London, and Bebington’s in Port Elizabeth are also combined with commercial goods on the return journey to maximize return load revenues.

1952

The third truck is acquired (1950 Ford 5 tonner). The Company moves into the general cartage sector, moving farm produce from farms in the Boland Region to Food Processing Factories such as Table Top and Gants. The packed foods were then transported to the docks for export, to Culemborg Railway Goods Yard for railing to various destinations throughout the country and to local outlets throughout the peninsula. The Company also moved other packed foods from Manufacturers and Distributors such as Sacca Ltd., Buchanan Sweets and Suchard Chocolates to wholesalers and retailers across the Cape Region.

1957

The Company acquires Road Transportation Permits to operate nationally within the borders of the Republic of South Africa. At the time, the South African Railways were the only authority permitted to carry goods of all classes Republic wide, with Cartage Contractors restricted to specific goods and limited to operate within a radius of 300 miles of the jurisdiction of their Regional Districts. Permits were issued for specific vehicles and for specific goods as stipulated on the permits. Three more trucks are acquired early that year (1953 Chevrolet 8 tonner with integrally-built pantechnicon body), a (1956 Dennis 8 tonner with similar body) and a few months later a (1957 Trojan 2 tonner).

1948

The second truck is acquired (1946 Chevrolet 5 tonner) for moving new furniture from Furniture Manufacturing Factories such as Sebba & Co., and Satco (South African Timber Company) to local furniture dealerships and furniture dealers in the outlying areas such as the Boland, Swartland, and West Coast Regions.

1969

The Company becomes a member of S.A.F.W.A. (South African Furniture Movers and Warehousemen’s Association) and invests in pallet boxes for in-warehouse storage of household furniture which becomes the new standard throughout the Industry. Several units are acquired and immediately results in improved warehouse utilization. The Company advertises its list of services such as its Commercial Delivery Schedules and Household Removal & peripheral services through the media of the Yellow Pages and printed brochures which are distributed to existing customers and potential new customers.

The number of local vehicles grows and has been since the early sixties and includes a 1958 Albion Claymore 5 tonner, 1964 Thames Trader 5 tonner, 2 International trucks, 2 BMC trucks, the 1946 Chevrolet and 1957 Trojan. The foregoing is not an error; the ’46 Chevy and the Trojan were still doing daily collections and deliveries on a par with the newer trucks well into the 1970’s.

The 1960’s and 70’s were years of tremendous growth in the Road Transport Industry and that the Company shared in that growth became evident by the number of customers who were making use of the Company’s services and the volume of goods the Company moved over that period of time. Business relationships with customers was such that the Company retained more than ninety percent of its customer base throughout its history and at this point was still doing work for companies such as Sebba & Co., Stripp & Son and Satco with whom the Company had started working with in the 1940’s.

Demand and volumes peaked during the school holiday periods in the household moving sector and in the period prior to the December holiday season the volume of commercial goods exceeded vehicle capacities. This cycle continued throughout the 60’s and 70’s and short-term and medium-term planning could be undertaken with reasonable certainty. Later acquisitions to the Company Portfolio included Industrial Property, residential property and new vehicles.

to be continued...

The company offices are located at no 6 Kay’s Building in Victoria Road Woodstock with its warehouse at no 44 Church Street Woodstock – Phone number was 58577 which later changed to 55-8577. The Company had by this time added several businesses to its customer list (which was later referred to as “Commercial Clients”). The Company undertakes long distance transportation of various new furniture products from Furniture Manufacturing Factories such as Stripp & son, S.A. Cabinet, Bakker & Steyger and Lola Zinn Furnitures and Charles Kantor Furniture Manufacturers with regular trips to destinations throughout the country.