1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180 
• HAULAGE
Page 113
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Considered as an Industry
Haulage Contracting has Always been a Part of Industrial Life: It has remained for the Motor Vehicle to Make it an Industry in Itself
By H. Scott Hall, M I A.E.
THE proportion of motor-borne traffic that is carried by haulage contractors is likely for many years to be in excess of that which is conveyed by traders in their own vehicles. It is at present increasing and will probably continue to do so, because it has always been customary for traders to rely on outside help for the transport of their goods.
The railways are being supplemented and, in many cases, supplanted, bY the motor vehicle, whilst road haulage, from being an appendage of trade and industry generally, has become an industry in itself in which millions of pounds of capital are involved and is giving employment to many thousands of workmen.
Ti might have been thought that the advent of the motor vehicle, and its arrival at such a stage of perfection that the veriest tyro can be placed in charge of it, after a minimum of instruction, would have turned the minds of traders towards making use of it to a greater extent, so that less and less reliance would have been placed by them upon outside aid.
Traders' Reliance on Contractors.
That, however, has not been the ease. On the contrary, the tendency is for traders to rely more and more on contractors for the carriage of their goods. Only the big stores, and those whose main use of transport is the delivery of parcels within a comparatively circumscribed area, seem to make those deliveries exclusively in vehicles owned by themselves.
To the man in the street, and even to those who are accustomed to observe matters of this kind for themselves, the truth of the foregoing may not be so obvious. So far as casual observation would disclose there is a preponderance of trader-owned vehicles on our streets. The truth is that all is not as it seems, for there are many traders who employ haulage contractors to take care of their transport, but who, at the same time, Insist that their vehicles shall be painted to their own specification.
There is a sound reason for that-course--one which is much more important than the obvious one of taking precautions that certain vehicles are entirely reserved for the use of the one trader. The real reason is to be found in the realization, by the trader, that a smartly turned-out motor vehicle bearing his name and address as well as other distinctive advertising matter, is a considerable business asset in itself and one which is well worth _conserving for his own benefit.
There will, for a simple reason, always be a considerable, even a preponderating, demand for the services of motor-haulage contractors. The majority of traders is faced with fluctuating needs for haulage facilities. This may be due to one of two principal causes. Either their requirements are seasonal, or they vary because of fluctuations in the demand for their products. Those engaged in agricultural pursuits and those in such trades as timber importing are subject to the former condition, whilst manufacturers of gloves may be cited as typifying those whose business varies because of fluctuating demand.
In such circumstances it is obviously uneconomical to provide means for transport to meet the maximum demand. The alternative is to acquire a fleet which is capable of meeting normal requirements and to look to haulage contractors for the rest. That is done in a great many instances. Often enough, however, it occurs to those who must frequently employ hauliers that they might just as well rid themselves of the responsibility of owning motor vehicles and look altogether to outside aid for their transport requirements.
There is, in addition, a large body of traders which is unable profitably to make use of its own transport, or, at least, which can make only scant use of it throughout the major part of the year, yet, at certain seasons, needs it to a considerable extent. A typical example of this is the farming community. For most of the year a farmer's transport needs can be met by one large vehicle, or, at the most, one large machine and one small one. When certain crops are garnered, however, such as beet and potatoes, there is need for considerable transport, and it is then that the haulage • contractor is called upon for assistance.
Again, there are traders who have at one time owned vehicles, but who, for some reason or other, have been unable to make successful and economical use of them. As the outcome of repeated disappointments of this nature they have at length resorted to hauliers and, provided that the haulier has not let them down, they are, as a rule, content to abide by that decision. This condition is, however, often rendered unstable by indifferent service on the part of the haulier, thus causing the trader once more to try to run his own transport.
Hauliers' Services Always in Demand.
'Apart from that instance, however, the conditions that we have just outlined as providing ample reason for the continued demand for the services of haulage contractors are permanent ones. If they fluctuate in respect of the total demand, it is only because trade as a whole throughout the country varies in quantity.
Seasonal fluctuations in any particular industry do not affect him, or, at least, they do not do so if he be wise, and regulates his business, as he can, so that as the demand from one quarter diminishes he moves his fleet in another direction to take advantage of an increase there.
But there is no advantage in a steady flow of business if it be carried on at a loss, and unfortunately there is reason to fear thefl tendency is so to undercut prices for haulage as gradually to undermine the otherwise sound foundations of a flourishing business. It is our experience that the greater proportion of the undercutting that is rife wherever haulage is carried on is due to ignorance of the basic costs, not only of operating the vehicles themselves but of the businesses on account of which the machines are engaged.
There is no sure remedy for this state of things, except the educative one, the steady inculcation of the principles of business management and, more particularly, Of the necessity of an efficient costing system.