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The problem with "yes"
Page 66
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Brian Lee breaks a few Allan Morris Transport golden rules... but soon ends up paying the price.
In the rare, precious moments of reflection over the years. I've thought many times about diversification. Depending on the era, t he different sectors for Allan Morris have ranged from canal transport to providing escorts for young starlets at film premieres. Obviously. I'd pull rank and bag Cannes.
Well, two weeks ago, we had diversification thrust upon us, thanks to Terry breaking a golden rule.That rule is that when a customer says ."Can you help us out of a jam?" you ascertain the exact nature of the jam before agreeing "Yes, can do! "Terry volunteered immediately, thus committing us to folding leaflets into recycling bags and securing them with a rubber band.VVhat's the big deal,1 hear you ask? Well, no problem but could you have 57,000 ready in five days and delivered to the onward distribution warehouse?
By the end of day one, we realised we might have a problem meeting the deadline as wives, girlfriends and Terry's 73-year-old mum had only managed 2,300 of them. It was then we broke another Allan Morris Transport golden rule and called an agency.
Men and women from all over the globe arrived and commandeered the drivers' rest room, the boardroom and every other available space.We completed the task with half a day to spare, but the office is still reeking of rubber from the 57,000 elastic bands. Actually, it's more than 57,000 —we still have loads left!
This week we also took delivery of a couple of ScaniaTopliners. Now! have a passion for transport, but enthusiasts Richard, Ozzy and Dennis came out of the woodwork on Saturday to crawl all over the vehicles.Tbe cabs must be like the Tardis because grown men disappeared inside for hours and didn't want to come out.
I took a phone call the other day from an aggrieved member of the great British public."One of your big lorries has just gone through our village and we are trying to discourage vehicles." I then asked her a few questions:Are there any weight restrictions in your village? "No," she replied.Any height restrictions? "No," came the response.Then, remembering my P&O passenger ship officer's training, I patiently explained that as we conform to all government requirements, we will use whatever roads we want and that as her village is en route to the farm we were delivering to, we would continue to drive through her village. She put the phone down. Further investigation revealed that this lady has only recently moved to the village from the city and she's already giving the farmer a hard time about animal noise and earthy smells.There's truly nowt so queer as folk, I've just returned from the funeral of a dear friend, Baz Roberts. Baz spent a great deal of his working life driving for British Steel from Shotton in North Wales. No hairdressers' wagons with power steering, night heaters and light gearsticks in those days, When Baz was on the road it was crash, bang, wallop through the gears, hand-balling — no such luxuries as forklift trucks — and there was snow — lots of it!
Baz was culled during the mass redundancies of the early 1980s that hit BSC Shotton, and he worked with us for some time before retiring. However, he then lent his experience to his son Stephen to operate as an owner-driver from our yard. In an age of spin and machismo. Baz was a beacon, a true gentleman whose kindness touched all those who worked with him. He will be sorely missed. •