RHA enjoys I reign in Spain
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OCIAL DEMOCRATIC :hose Salford for its I conference; the Liberals, ;ate; the Labour Party, on; the Tories and the ; Union Congress opted ckpool; and the Freight )ort Association chose n.
Road Haulage Association an up-market resort on ores of Mediterranean — Ila, Spain; a resort noted
for its rich and famous residents and visitors.
And judging from the feeling of those RHA members who attended the Marbella conference, overseas locations are likely to be picked again in the future. Despite its often appalling weather during the week-long gathering, Marbella seemed to suit RHA members as a conference venue almost perfectly. fact that their haulage contractors are as vital to their company's performance as their own staff, plant and equipment, they will be in for a severe shock.
'The weakness in the operators' licensing system, which is supposed to be there to ensure standards of quality, allows into the industry hauliers who are inexperienced and financially suspect. Many of them are even prepared to operate illegally, with the consequent sacrifice of standards. They can beat the responsible haulier hands down on price and are able to survive where responsible operators fail.
"So the danger is that if our customers are short-sighted enough to take the cheapest quote without regard to the quality of service and the reputation of the operators, we finish up with an industry composed of fly-by-night hauliers running around on the fringes of the law."
Mr Russett said that he does not believe that kind of "Fred Karno's set-up" is really what the customers want.
"So we are making a major effort, hopefully with the help of the Confederation of British Ind u stry, which has already promised us help in Scotland, to drive home the message which I summarise as follows: customers — trust the professionals; pay the rate for the job; and above all else use a RHA member. Follow this code and your goods will be in safe hands."
He also told his members to make an application to customers for increases in rates, if such increases can be justified.
Following his by now familiar remarks about the plight of the respectable haulier, Mr Russett then turned to another thorny issue — the abolition of international quotas and permits.
"It seems that amid the gen eral clamour for the sweeping away of quotas and permits, the RHA stands alone in calling for caution. We should not have so much reason to object to a freefor-all in international transport if such a free-for-all applied equally to all states.
"But it has to be said that most European countries operate some form of capacity control.as part of their operators' licensing system. So in a European freemarket situation, British hauliers would be competing against hauliers whose Governments protect them to varying degrees from unfettered competition. I can't believe that anyone really believes this is fair."
The association therefore con siders that until there is an equitable degree of quality control of haulage within the United Kingdom and throughout Europe, the quotas and permits should remain as at least one means of ensuring that some professional standards are maintained, he said.
It was with regret that Mr Russett informed first-day delegates that the representatives from Astic (the Spanish equivalent of the RHA) were unable to attend any part of the conference, due to meetings with their own ministry of transport. He was able to introduce some foreign blood, though — in the shape of Pieter Groenendijk, the first guest speaker at the conference.