Technical director of Tiss truck/trailer security systems Brian Wholey made the long trip down from Blackpool to talk to us about how he set up his company and what had inspired him. Before getting onto the product range Wholey filled us in on his driving past - and it is rather extraordinary. He started driving for Northern Ireland Trailers at the docks in Preston in the 1960s. It sounds quite tame... but it's not.
"They needed a driver to take a load to Turkey. I had never driven abroad
before at this point," Wholey recalls. Having completed the first part of his journey successfully he pulled into a service area in Turkey, where a load of other foreign trucks were parked up. "They asked me if I was joining the convoy - I didn't know what the 'convoy' was." The next stage of the journey was through what the other drivers called no-man's land or just bandit country. Trucks would drive through in a convoy for safety reasons.
"I set off on my own because I had to get the load there in time." Perhaps foolishly, considering the events that followed. Wholey says: "I heard a funny noise and started to slow down. All of a sudden I saw guys on horses with guns shooting at my trailer... so I put my foot down and managed to get away." The load, consisting of engines, was delivered, but with a few minor holes here and there. Now onto the company... or maybe just one more story. Wholey continues: "Another time I was thrown into a labour camp in the then Czechoslovakia. After
being clipped by another vehicle we crashed our truck into a ditch. The truck then went up in flames."
It was only after waking up in hospital and being nursed back to health that Wholey was thrown into the labour camp, where his co-driver was. "We had no paperwork or proof of anything as the fire had burned everything. To cut a long story short, they thought we were spies, as the other guy had been taking pictures of government buildings and other sites." After finally being released both were sent on a train to Germany, from where they had to make their way home with no money and no documents. "I didn't talk to my wife for three weeks," Wholey recalls.
If these interview pages were longer this piece would be full to the brim with more stories, but due to space restrictions and interest in the product, Wholey tells us how his company started. As he had driven trucks in the Middle East for a while, the assumption was that he had experienced fuel theft out there, which could have led to the creation of Tiss. This was not the case though. "There were never any problems with diesel out there - they were practically throwing the stuff away." The idea actually came about much closer to home," says Wholey.
"I witnessed a truck crash, where a truck had skidded off a bridge and landed nose first on the M1. This happened because it had slipped on diesel." The thought of diesel spillage and experience of diesel being stolen from his truck got him thinking. "The anti-siphon device started life as a baked bean can. I was in the workshop drilling holes and shaping the can." He is certainly pleased with the end result: "Over a period of two to three years the device was shaped into its final form and is now the market leader."
Accompanying Wholey was Tiss's marketing manager Matthew Rose, who was very keen to highlight the company's Impregnable anti-siphon and anti-spill system. "It's won an award from the British Motorcycle Federation," he tells us. This is because of its patented float-valve design, which prevents diesel being siphoned, or spilling, out of the tank - which causes many motorcyclists to come off their bikes. Rose is quick to point out the product's success. "We've sold more than 35,000 units in the past three years to companies including Tesco, Sainsbury's, DHL and Christian Salvesen. This includes all three of our devices, though the main sales come from the Impregnable - around 80-85%."
Responding to the obvious question of "won't they just damage the tank to get to the fuel?" Wholey makes a very bold statement: "No, as in 99.9% of cases, a driver steals it for his own use and won't damage his own tank." He is also very keen to highlight the fact that the founders of Tiss - himself and his son Ryan - did not come into this business from a sales background. "We came into this from the haulage industry, which makes a big difference."
This gives him a significantly better insight into the working life of the drivers - the people who use his company's products. Having been there and done it helps him deal with some of the issues that arise. He explains: "We are very much aware that drivers think taking 20 litres of diesel per week to run their own car is a perk of the job and therefore we understand from a grass-roots level the problems today's hauliers face."
Tiss is offering Roadtransport.com readers a 10% discount on its Impregnable device. At a cost of £165 this works out at a saving of £16.50. When purchasing the device please state that you have read about the offer in this issue of CM. To order an Impregnable telephone Tiss on 01253 400401 or e-mail: info@tissltd.com
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