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How many Motecs?
Page 32
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by John Darker • Mr. T. E. Tindall, director-general, Road Transport Industry Training Board, told a questioner at last week's Export Services conference that the Board did not know how many ''Motecs" would be necessary to serve the needs of the industry.
The second and third Motecs were corning along, said Mr. Tindall, but the centres were expensive and the Board felt that the industry would be the loser if all training responsibilities were taken from management. The aim was to enthuse the industry so that it undertook training itself. The Motecs would be likely. to have a catalytic effect on the industry by demonstrating new training techniques. The industry certainly wanted to be helped and his only fear was that "we don't so help it that it doesn't help itself".
Mr. Tindall, who was participating in the session set aside for discussion of export transport problems, said that transport completed the production process. Nothing was made until it was delivered to the customer.
The biggest service road transport could offer to the export industries was the safe and prompt delivery of goads to the ports—or direct to overseas customers via the ferry services.
The RTITB had looked at the problem of training specialist staff involved in export movements. Smaller haulage concerns were now venturing into long-distance deliveries overseas and it was already possible to discern a special breed of driver emerging, knowing all the tricks of the trade. It was obvious that specialized training for drivers undertaking overseas journeys to Europe would be helpful: apart from routeing problems drivers needed special briefing on documentation and legal problems; languages, of course, were helpful.
'Excellent ambassadors'
Discussing the impact made by the industry to the earning of "invisible" export revenues, Mr. Tindall praised the contribution of operators and drivers of overseas coaches: carrying tourists from America and elsewhere the drivers were excellent ambassadors who could be called "vehicie and passenger sympathetic-.
Mr. Tindall outlined the progress made by the Board in fostering group training associations, and stressed the pioneering aspects of the TASC (Training Assistance for Small Companies) programme. Mobile Training Units were taking training expertise to the remoter areas of the country, especially to the Highlands and Islands and Central Wales.
Questioned about driver attitudes to the movement of exports to the docks, Mr. Tindall said he had noted a considerable change in the attitude of drivers who had attended courses. Drivers delivering to docks suffered many frustrations, often because of material handling problems encountered at collection points. and the anticipated difficulties in the actual docks. He felt that road transport managers could often benefit from training in the handling of people and the organization of work so that drivers did not become either complacent or discontented.
To a questioner who expressed interest in the export packers' course at the High Ercall Motec—following the display of slides—Mr. Tindall said there was an 'enormous waiting list for it and the training programme was being expanded, with special arrangements for accommodating students in adjacent hotels.
Mr. W. D. Koster, general manager, cargo 'development, British Overseas Airways Corporation, described the great expansion of air cargo in the past decade and stressed that every ton of air freight dispatched from London airport was sent by the cheapest means possible—if that were not so a lot of transport managers ought to be fired!
Container by air Discussing the likely date for the general carriage by air of ISO 20 X 8 X 8ft containers, Mr. Koster said this could be expected between 1973 and 1980 but if the public expected the maximum economy in passenger and freight rates it would be necessary for freight to travel as belly-loads for some years to come.
Air cargo consolidation would have to be done away from London airport, said Mr. Koster, because the cost of land at the airport and the restricted height of buildings meant that warehousing at Heathrow was as costly as at Piccadilly Circus.
In discussing the role of the shipping and forwarding agent Mr, J. M. Featherston. chief executive of Thomas Meadows and Co. Ltd and currently chairman of the UK Freight Forwarders' Container Association, said that manufacturers were well aware of transport delays in the UK upsetting buyers and disturbing images, but when distances were greater and currency and language barriers intervened delays were much more serious. The actual transport time and cost was much higher and an aggressive competitor might be sitting on the customer's doorstep.
The additional form-filling and special packing, marking and invoicing requirecldiscouraged many potential exporters but it could not be denied that a great many organizations circumvented these problems and built up a successful export business. Expert knowledge of the individual markets and the transport services available to them could lead to suc cess; hence the role of adviser and co-ardinator of the whole distribution process undertaken by forwarding agents. They were tied to no specific carrier or type of service and were experienced in dealing with all sorts of commodities to all sorts of markets.
The forwarding agents could advise on packing, marking, invoicing, the advantages of competitive services, delivery times and costs, and could also take responsibility for dock and airport deliveries customs work, and delivery to overseas customer's premises as well.
Stressing the vital importance of accurate paperwork, Mr. Featherston said the omis sion of a comma could cause the rejection of documents by a bank. The speed of overland services between the UK and Europe meant that there was no time to process documents through a bank: simplified methods had now been evolved to deal with this traffic.