Born-again hauliers
Page 36
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
WHETHER the Road Haulage Association should or should not take its annual conference abroad is an argument that will no doubt continue on other pages. What cannot be denied is that the business sessions of last month's conference in Malta were very successful. Jack Semple's reports last week gave the facts. Here I want to reflect on those facts.
The first reflection concerns the talented list of speakers the RHA was able to attract, and the care which they had put into preparing their talks. Inevitably the most eagerly awaited "turn" was Dave Wetzel. It was easy to imagine oneself in ancient Rome among the lions in the Coliseum anticipating the latest batch of Christians. But, as at this year's Fleet Management Conference, although he made few converts no one denied the excellence of his performance.
Lynda Chalker's talk also evoked contradictory feelings. Her stark statement that 40 tonnes was not on the horizon was calmly accepted by delegates disenchanted with the post-Armitage package. But she was equally firm on retaining the unquantifiable environmental surcharge in lorry taxation, and this clearly caused great worry.
Mrs Chalker's performance in answering questions from the floor showed a superb mastery of her job. Parliamentary Questions are submitted in advance and answered on advice from civil servants. By contrast, delegates' questions were quite unprepared, and came from people who both knew and felt deeply about the subjects. Mrs Chalker's knowledge of and interest in the industry's problems contrast painfully with Nicholas Ridley's ignorant and doctrinaire attitude to the bus industry. But as we approach the season of goodwill I will not pursue that theme.
It seems clear that the RHA has entered a new era. The reorganisation was obviously painful to many long-standing members. There are still odd rumbles of discontent, but the new arrangements are generally accepted. It is difficult for an outsider to judge, but there seems to have been a marked change in the members' attitude to the Association. A few years ago it was rarely praised and often spoken of with something approaching despair. Today it has a much more positive image.
This is partly because of the increased range of membership services now on offer. But, rather belatedly, the immense range of the RHA's behind-thescenes lobbying is being publicised. Director-general Freddie Plaskett listed no fewer than 30 separate topics on which the RHA had made representations to the DTp and other Government agencies in the past 12 months. How many hauliers, I wonder, could think of half as many topics which need intervention.
Inevitably the RHA does not always achieve the complete success of the campaign to keep hgv test stations in the public sector. Equally inevitably attention is concentrated on matters where the Government refuses to give an inch —.a "due diligence" defence against overloading, for example. But these are the extremes. In most cases the RHA secures improvements in the original proposals, or more time in which to adapt — or even both.
But despite these improvements there were signs during the Conference of at least worrying two long-term problems. The first is the perennial British problem of industrial relations. Lynda Chalker rebuked the RHA for last year's pay settlement, and it was clear that many delegates felt that the machinery for handling these negotiations was not working well. In particular there was a feeling that the RHA negotiators were often amateurs facing professionals. Roadway House now employs a skilled and experienced industrial relations manager, but not all district negotiators seek his advice on tactics. In any industry the relationship between employer and employee inevitably covers areas where interests conflict. But to this outsider the depressing aspect of the Malta discussion was the basic hostility which many hauliers displayed not just towards the trade unions but to their drivers personally. Many of the remarks made revealed attitudes that were not even Victorian, since they lacked the paternalism of that age.
The industry is not going to become even more efficient without the positive cooperation of its drivers. As Dave Wetzel reminded the conference, once a driver is on the road he is the captain of his ship. The sentiments expressed frankly in Malta are no doubt watered down in day-to-day dealings with drivers. But they must inevitably colour relationships. And that cannot be good for the industry.
Sir James Duncan highlighted the other long-term problem. In an address which many delegates clearly regarded as the conference highlight, he stressed the need for "an aggressive and effective RHA". But much of his time was spent emphasising the need for hauliers to know their costs and not to undertake work which did not enable them at least to recover these. "If it doesn't pay, don't do it" should be the industry's motto, he suggested.
No one could argue with the advice, which had especial weight coming from the chairman of a group which has done well out of following it. But though the aims were indisputably correct, Sir James left unanswered the question of how the RHA could assist in achieving them. Yet this is crucial.
A profitable industry is both the RHA's principal aim and an essential condition for its continuation. And they are imperilled by the existence of a band of hauliers who either do not know their costs or are so strapped for cash that they have to take work at any price simply to pay bills which will not wait.
So far the RHA has confined itself to generalities on this. Operators' licences should be more difficult to obtain. More objections are being lodged against applicants with a bad financial record. But these do not get to the heart of the problem.
Licensing Authorities could do more in examining new entrants on this aspect of their applications. At present their attempts to do this are halfhearted, or amateurish, or both. There seems no reason why the RHA should not devise criteria for LAs' use. LAs themselves might welcome this help. And the relevant section of the CPC examination could be strengthened.
The RHA has been complaining about unrealistic rates it, years. More than most problems it will not solve itself. The association should either do something about it or stop complaining. Happily the former seems more likely.