From Drivennowner to Fleet Controller
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HE road haulage industry, including ancillary users, is comprised substantially of small units. The flexibility which stems from this overall pattern has been a major tor in the success of the industry.
tut because transport is a service it must be continually nodelling itself to meet the changing needs of its custors—trade and industry—both in the type and comprehensives of the service provided. The continuous process of Igamations and groupings within trade and industry has led to increase the demand for a correspondingly enlarged isport service to meet the changing needs. Whilst this id has not necessarily gone to the extent of one transport ncy serving the requirements of each industrial giant, there undoubtedly been some rationalization at regional levels dive to the major units of production.
nether or not the transport industry's response to this id has been a regrouping in actual ownership, or on the is of agreed co-operation between established operators. rail there has been an increasing need for operators to trol a larger number of vehicles than formerly.
Challenge
uch expansion obviously presents a challenge as to the abilities of the operator. But in many instances, the real ger is not that he is unable to meet this situation, but rather : he does not recognize it for what it is when it, in fact, es. Incidentaily, it is often just at this point of fleet ansion when many traders decide to hand over direct tership of their vehicles in exchange for some form 01' tract hire. From bitter experience they have found that 1st they have got away with running, say, two or three vans I virtuallyno specific administrative control, their delivery ices got completely out of hand when the size of the fleet eased ihilst it is not possible to state the precise number of•ides at which this loss of efficiency is likely to take place.
basically dependent on the memory, and to some extent the ;th of experience on that particular job, of the person eerned, whether hc be the owner-driver of a small haulage or the manager of a shop or dispatch department. eyond a certain stage, however, no matter how experienced person may be, it becomes necessary to commit details ut icle and traffic movements to paper, not only as a record subsequent use, but also for current use by the increasing tber of persons necessitated by the increasing size of fleet. ailure to recognize that such a point in fleet expansion has reached has often, unfortunately, been the reason for a inc in the fortunes of a previously efficient operator.
,xibility the Major Factor s stilted previously, flexibility—implying prompt attention ustomers' varying needs—has been the major factor in the ess of the road transport industry. Such favourahl.c litions are exemplified in the service provided by the small .ier who is personally able to control every aspect of his ness. having daily contact with both customers and staff. should he be in the fortunate position of having a growing business, requiring expansion of his fleet. then delegation of responsibility becomes necessary.
Although, when so plainly stated, this appears a relatively simple matter, in practice it often proves far from being the case. Often the more capable a self-sufficient operator has been in the past the more likely will he be imbued with a sense of indispensability and so reluctant to delegate responsibility. Alternatively, there will be only a partial delegation, with the result that any newly acquired assistant will not be kept fully in the picture.
Whilst similar problems of expansion naturally occur in other trades and industries, there is this distinction as regards transport In few other cases is the urgency so marked and so recurring Once the stage has been reached where an assistant, whatever his designation, is required to have sole control of the fleet for at least some period of the working day the need for quick decisions by him will occur daily, possibly involving long journeys which cannot subsequently be altered until the vehicles reach their destinations.
Delegating Responsibility But before responsibility can be delegated, obviously suitable personnel must be available. This is a further reason why the whole subject of vehicle expansion should receive specific attention at regular intervals by operators rather than be accepted as some form of inevitable industrial growth, however seemingly fortunate that may appear to the operator.
In this context It has been a revealing aspect of the several feature stories published in this journal on the activity of haulage fleets and some ancillary users, the extent to which the entire success of the undertaking revolves around the capabilities—and incidentally the health—of one man. The obvious need for a capable deputy is either not recognized or is definitely shelved on the grounds that a suitable man is not available. Such a contention must, at least in a general sense, be invalid, as otherwise there would be a permanent ceiling on the size of any fleet.
Where the need for delegation of responsibility has been both accepted and provided for, then there is the need for an adequate system of records to take the place of verbal instructions which have previously proved adequate. But whereas verbal instruction, although having the advantage of immediacy, tends for that very reason to be spontaneous, once there is recourse to written records a logical sequence must be maintained as between the differing records if they are to be quickly located and readily understood by the staff involved.
Reassessing the Control Process Although an operator may possibly be both long established and comparatively efficient in a small way, when the occasion arises for expansion involving delegation of authority, he will probably be himself surprised as to the extent to which it is necessary to reassess and restate the process aud sequence of control from the receiving of initial instructions from a customer for the collection of an individual consignment until its final delivery.