A Newcorm
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kes the European Road BY NORMAN H. TILSLEY TANKER • work is said to be the cream of the haulage industry. It follows—or so one would think— that tanker operations to the Continent are even " creamier " than hauling liquids in bulk within the United Kingdom. To some extent this is so— provided you have the right equipment and the right organization to deal with it; provided you are prepared to put in a lot of spade work and exploration, and can afford financially, and in terms of time, the setbacks that are bound to befall you in a field where experience can be gained only after a lot of trial and error.
Keen competition
If you fall by the wayside in this field, you are likely to be trampled upon by your contemporaries who—let's face it —are ready to employ every conceivable and ingenious method to attract your traffic and lure away your customers, come what may.
A virtual newcomer to the Continental scene is the firm of Hatter Bros. (Bulk Haulage) Ltd., of West Thurrock. Well known in the tanker field as pastmasters in the art of spot hiring; having ample warehousing, garaging and maintenance premises placed conveniently almost alongside the "Tilbury Ferry" (as the Transport Ferry Service is affectionately called by most Continental operators who use this service to Antwerp and Rotterdam), the managing director, Mr. E. R. Hatter, and his general manager, Mr. James Templeton, have had their sights set on the European mainland for a long time.
A year's preparation
Undeterred by advice from the Continental experts of the Road Haulage Association that it is impossible to "go it alone" on the Continent successfully, the Hatter organization—with the initial help of a Belgian haulier friend—first became Continental hauliers as recently as last March when they sent a tanker across on the ferry destined for Munich.
Negotiations, explorations and the like had gone on for about a year before this, and nothing was left to chance— right down to the last small detail in the construction of the company's Continental equipment.
To achieve the smooth, behind-thescenes running that is so essential to Codtinental operating, Hatter Bros. decided that the best way to work was by employing agents on both sides of the Channel. And it is sufficient to say that they are held in such high esteem that one of the most experienced and long-standing British firms of shippers and forwarding agents in this country—Hudson Forwarding Ltd—act for them in England.
Their search for a reliable agent on the Continent was not easy. "Most of
hem offer facilities they have not the ;lightest chance of physically proiding ", Mr. Templeton told me. " And", le added, you must have first-class tgents right the way through. It probtbly costs more, but it is the only way o give the customer security."
There is much invOlved in the move• Tient of a vehicle and its load between 'ingland and Italy, Mr. Templeton con-; :inued: "An agent can do something in few minutes that would take us laynen five days to do, unnecessary though tome people call them!"
Hatter's eventually settled on a reliable man in Holland (" he has the tanker business all over Europe sewn ", I was told), and came to an arrangement with a reputable Italian forwarding agent and shipper, Odino Valpetga, of Milan.
At first movements were confined to one vehicle per week. But this soon increased. Hatter's decided that there was a demand for a general traffic service between this country and Italy and launched a regular service. What is more, they have now started a groupage service to Italy and handle packages as small as l cwt., like a small gearbox that went through to Turin recently.
Now, six months since its inauguration, Hatter's traffic to the Continent has increased fivefold—the Majority of this being attributable to bulk . liquid: chemicals of all types. Almost maiirmon backloading, by the way. has been achieved, too. Their equipment—if the Highway TIR trailer that I saw being hauled into the Customs compound at Tilbury recently is anything to go by—is first class. "It has got to be ", Mr. Templeton explained. %Continental door-to-door haulage is such a novelty that the top brass in the customer firm is interested to sec it working at first hand. So you've got to have liist-class standards and equipment."
Highway built its first TIR platform trailer for Hatter's, I discovered. And, I am told, the Ministry's inspector was very impressed with it. Now the cornpuny is using TIR trailers manufactured by Pitt as well,, and tankers fitted with the most modern stainless steel tanks by Andrews of Bristol.
So far then, so good. But this is not by any means the end of the story. The eventual aim is to be able to provide Hatter-Owned and Continental-based traction to haul right the way through from the Benelux entry ports to eventual destination. A pipe dream, some would call it, as the barriers put in the way of "foreigners" who want to license vehicles in Europe appear to be almost insurmountable. (It has been done, though.) But judging from the past achievements of this company, it will not be long before a complete Flatter combination is seen cruising along the Autostrada heading for Milan
-de Gaulle or no de Gaulle.