4 -' 1 " ---. 'Recession should not be
Page 50
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
an excuse for rate cutting on existing work'
i0 ver the past 10 years return loads have become more of a
lottery than a service. The owner-driver is often blamed for rate cutting, but I feel it is time the real problems were explained.
I believe that I am one of the more fortunate owner-drivers because about 60% of my work is direct with the customer and most of my return loads and other work is from long-established, reputable transport companies with whom I have an excellent relationship.
But recently I have had to do a lot more looking around for return loads and this has brought to light the problems most owner-drivers have to suffer. "Recession" is the word on most lips, which does bear heavily on the transport industry, but this should not be an excuse for rates to be cut on the work that is still there.
Most of the blame must be put at the door of some clearing houses — people sitting by telephones with no vehicles of their own, taking on work for very poor rates and shelling the work out to operators, minus 10% — which leaves very little, if you get the money. In the past year I have lost revenue on two loads because of the agent going into liquidation and have ended up with nothing.
These parasites need no qualifications to operate, which I feel is a total disgrace. There should be a law against these people spreading through a depressed industry.
I am based in North East Scotland where operators can only go in one direction, so it is imperative to get a return load because of the distances involved.
Until a few years ago, most return loads were done by local hauliers — few English hauliers came so far north — but this has changed due to a lack of work in the south.
They are now regularly in this area bringing up what were our "return loads" and then taking loads south, often at cut rates. This does not help, because my area is not over populated by work. Until recently we had quite a good balance.
I am amazed that every week you hear about operators going out of business, only to see that someone else has started doing the same operation that just put someone out of business. Companies that fail often hit the owner-driver hardest as we seem to be at the end of an unusually long list to be paid. A 90-day waiting period for payment is far too long as we have to pay all our accounts within 30 days.
I feel in Britain we all seem to sit and watch legislation being thrown at us from Government departments and adjust our businesses without objection. Next year we will have to fit speed limiters at a cost of around £500 — a rip-off. To avoid prosecution your right foot acts as a speed limiter without all this expensive, unnecessary equipment.
Another hardship I face weekly is the large supermarket chains, which sometimes keep you waiting for hours. Because the supermarkets have huge buying power, our customers inform us to be patient and not upset the customer. No waiting time is paid for by either party — just another unpaid service we supply., El If you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane.