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BMA's carrot for the smaller hauliei
Page 88
Page 89
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Report by Arthur Sherlock-Mesher
A CONSCIOUS effort to reach the small operator was :made by the Road Haulage Association at its conference at.Eastbourne last week. Paraphrasing the title of a popular television series, the theme was "Hauliers Great and Small," with the emphasis on the small.
John Silbermann, chairman, explained in his opening address that it was intended to focus attention on the straitjacket in which hauliers had to run their businesses. In road haulage the economies of scale did not apply and large and small operators were in the same boat.
The papers dealt with every. day practical topics rather than the principles and policies that RHA conferences usually discuss.
Sir Nevil Macready, managing director of the Mobil Oil Co Ltd, gave a warning that fuel prices would rise soon. R. T. Byford, director of the Tyre Manufacturers' Conference, stoutly defended his organisation against its critics. Indeed, some delegates thought he was insensitive to their opinions and that the TMC was arrogant.
The public relations needs of road haulage were the subject of a business luncheon addressed by Reginald Watts, chairman of Burson-Marsteller Ltd.
• This was one of three topics discussed by the syndicates that have become a popular feature of RHA conferences. The others were the possible political threat of empty running and hauliers' co-operatives. W. White, managing director of Seddon Atkinson Vehicles Ltd, clad in a hair shirt, told delegates what his company was doing to improve service to customers in vehicles and spares.
G. K. Newman, directorgeneral, concluded with a long report on the Association's activities during the past year. He selected a few items out of well over 100 on which the RHA had taken action.
Drive for membership
A DRIVE to improve service to members was outlined by JOHN SILBERMANN, chairman, in opening the conference. He found grounds for optimism in the increasing number of operators joining the Association and believed the decline in membership had been halted.
A recent achievement was the co-operative established in the Southern area called ROADS Ltd. This was the latest and possibly most ambitious co-operative group set up under the aegis of the RHA. Groups of this kind helped members to gain suitable traffic at proper prices and reduced empty mileage, The membership services sub-committee was encouraging the appointment of area field representatives to assist operators and to demonstrate the benefits of joining the RHA. The duties of two senior head office officials had been reallocated to enable them to give much more attention to membership services.
Mr Silbermann and his colleagues had addressed over 2,000 members on the serious financial problem of replacing vehicles at grossly inflated prices.
The problems of wage negotiations under phase 4 of the Government's anti-inflation policy were ever-present. The Association would continue to express its views forcefully on
the Government's refusal to replace the Road Haulage Wages Council by a statutory Joint Industrial Council. "The last occasion was only about three weeks ago and we shall continue the pressure,— Mr Silbermann declared.
The Association was "very fully aware of the necessity to contain and, if possible, to reduce the rate of inflation, which is such a dangerous and persistent feature of the economy," the chairman declared.
"It is essential therefore that all concerned should approach the negotiation of wages and conditions of employment with common sense, goodwill, and, above all, toleration."
Mr Silbermann attacked the Government for imposing sanctions on employers who were alleged to have settled wage claims at a figure exceeding the so-called guidelines.
In this the Government has in the past seemed to act arbitrarily," he said, "and has been prosecutor, judge and jury in its own cause. The CBI has said that it will seek to assist affected companies on a case-by-case basis and this is helpful as far as it goes, but it seems to us unfortunate that a proposal to establish an impartial body of well qualified independent persons to examine cases where sanctions are to be imposed and to expose publicly any unfair o unreasonable treatment of company by the Governmen has not been accepted."
As reported in Commerci Motor last week, Mr Silberman revealed that a road transpor show was to be mountei immediately before next year' annual conference at Brighton It would be a major public relz tions exercise to show th people what they owed to th lorry.
Flexible vehicle design
A NEW flexible approach t vehicle design and specifici lion was outlined by Vt WHITE, managing director c Seddon Atkinson Vehicle Ltd. By its means, he said new models could be put int production in a far shorts In a talk on vehicles an spares, Mr White did n( attempt to whitewash Sedde Atkinson. He admitted their pa shortcomings and explaine how they were being overcomi He agreed that in the days the sellers' market, manufa turers had adopted a take-it-c leave-it attitude towards cu tomers but they had learnt hard lesson. Competition bE ween them had never beE greater than it was today, ar was keener in Britain even thc in the USA. There were mo an 20 commercial vehicle lakers seeking operators' cusprn in the United Kingdom.
Since Mr White joined the )mpany four months ago, paras had been invited to the faciry to talk about Seddon Atkin)fl vehicles and the competiDn. Those attending had inuded drivers, fitters and disbutors• salesmen.
"Frankly, we were not surlsed at the majority of the pmplaints that they raised," lid Mr White. Most of the ilings had now been put right were in the process of being rrected.
While solutions to certain .oblems, including redegning, were being sought, forts had been made to prove quality of production as pll as design. Seddon Atkinson d the technology as well as financial muscle of the Innational Harvester Co, the rent company. As an ample, the International rvester paint technologist J recently been brought over Britain to check the quality of nts supplied.
Turning to another aspect of licle specification, Mr White plained an attempted cornimise between mass output I one-off production. His npany was investigating a gramme that should enable o start with a basic model, ke some fundamental inges specified by the custer, check to make sure that unit met with their engins' approval and then have it production in a much shorter e than had ever been the a in the past.
■ levertheless, present cifications had been evolved ichieve a high degree of inhangeability of parts. With new Seddon Atkinson 300 Jel, each distributor was Jired to have new diagnostic ipment which enabled any t in the International Harvr engine to be traced expely.rapidly.
oor delivery of spares had greatly reduced, but price )ases were much harder to rol. Seddon Atkinson had bled production over the two years and as a result ponents were being bought several sources, so that a was greater competition teen suppliers and an adage in the matter of prices. so, Seddon Atkinson had peen able to absorb many increases, but Mr White ght that prices would be d at longer intervals than in
the past.
Pointing out that warranties could be misleading, Mr White commented: "We could advertise a three-year warranty tomorrow but you probably would not get as good a deal out of us as you do at present.
"Ours isn't headline-making • — but we believe we are very generous in actual practice," he said.
His aim was to reduce to a minimum the causes of warranty claims. "In the short term we have beefed up our service organisation and have been meeting constantly with our distributor organisation to ensure the best possible availability of technical help as well as parts supply," he declared.
"While I do not believe that Seddon Atkinson is the worst manufacturer when it comes to parts and supply, I certainly acknowledge that we have not been the best," Mr White confessed.
The company was laying in additional supplies of fastmoving parts, such as the 3,000 items that had the largest turnover. If 100 per cent availability could be maintained on fast-moving pa rts, availability of more than 90 per cent would be achieved on all parts.
Each distributor was now compelled to hold certain items for each new model as well as for older models. Training for parts staff at distributors had been increased and improved and there was now better liaison between the Seddon Atkinson parts centre and distributors. In the long term, the parts distribution facilities at Bamber Bridge would be expanded.
Steps were being taken to ensure that, if any vehicle was off the road for a part that was not immediately available, it could be obtained directly from the production lines.
In the discussion Peter Thompson (National Freight Corporation) complained that in the past four years the prices of commercial vehicles had risen faster than the general level of inflation. When, he asked, would manufacturers bring prices under control?
Mr White replied that Seddon Atkinson price increases last year were 2 per cent less than the general level of inflation. The company was attempting to limit increases to two a year but it was at the mercy of suppliers for 70 per cent of its components. Nevertheless, it aimed to reduce the cost per unit sold next year.
When John Silbermann, chairman, asked what percentage increase in prices operators could expect in the next 12 months, Mr White said that Seddon Atkinson planned for 12 per cent inflation but prices would not necessarily be raised by that amount.
Peter May (Metropolitan and South Eastern) wanted to know whether the International .Harvester Company's interest in. DAF would be used to improve service for Seddon Atkinson vehicles on the Continent.
Mr White replied that International Harvester had a 33 per cent holding in DAF and if it secured a controlling interest, Seddon Atkinson vehicles might be serviced through OAF agents. The aim was to improve Seddon AlLinscin beta n ding in Ettretleethrtiugh.0Af or some other company ,• Answering arrothevquestion by Mr May, Mr White assured him that the Gardner engine would continue to be fitted but restricted supplies had made it necessary to find an additional make. The IH engine was the answer.
Answering R. N..Cullimore (Western), he could see no hope that the Government would allow six-wheelers to carry heavier loads within the next few years.
A delegate complained that dealers were supplying vehicles with different specifications from those ordered, which caused spares problems later. Experience with spares for the old Atkinson vehicic was better than for the modern Seddon Atkinson.
Mr White told him that the company was going to insist on distributors keeping parts for vehicles supplied, regardless of their peculiarities of specification. The aim was to maintain 95,-per cent overall availability of spares, whereas the best in the industry at the moment was 90 per cent.