THE SCOTTISH lorry drivers' strike last year which successfully brought
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in £40 for 40 hours work for drivers of maximumcapacity vehicles spread—as everyone knows—to all parts of the country. Road haulage employers, as a direct consequence, have had to give much thought to achievement of maximum labour productivity.
The wages question is so bound up with labour relations that it cannot sensibly be discussed in isolation. When relations between employers and employed are excellent the productivity of the driving force will certainly exceed that of any company where conflict and confrontation are customary. It is well known that driver productivity varies markedly in road haulage undertakings which are part of a large group. Traditional working patterns, perhaps stemming from past battles over productivity norms, loading and unloading arrangements and incentive rewards, affect output appreciably. The industry's problems on the labour front would be appreciably less if the standard of the best firms were general.
In last year's edition of Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs we anticipated with remarkable accuracy the wages that were to become general throughout the industry, several months before the Scottish drivers' strike. Our figures of £40.05 for drivers of under 5-ton capacity vehicles and £46.43 for drivers of maximum capacity articulated vehicles were based on a sample of operators, suggesting that the subsequent trade union claims derived added force from the fact that many firms were already paying more in basic pay than the unions were claiming for all drivers.
Overtime is not included in the Cost Tables but a ready reckoner enables an operator to calculate the cost of actual overtime worked and to add this to the figure given in the Tables.
The scale of weekly variations, from £0.25 to £25.00 last year, was probably adequate for the great majority of operators, though certain sectors of the industry are known to have paid drivers £100 or more when trading conditions have been favourable.
Driver flexibility
There is little doubt that many schemes which have been popular with drivers, particularly "job and finish", need to be looked at afresh. This type of operation has developed in the contract hire sector, and others, and customers getting good service have not until recently been disposed to object if a driver who has completed his work quota for the day goes home in the early afternoon. But it should surely be possible to arrange a fully productive day for the driver, even if this involves some flexible working arrangements on his part—warehouse operations, vehicle cleaning, simple vehicle maintenance or whatever.
Generalizations about a diverse industry like road haulage are not always relevant to sizeable sectors, but the feeling is widespread that many drivers today are reluctant to help with loading and offloading. There is room for a rapid extension of training of drivers to undertake simple, routine maintenance operations. The increased warehousing operations now undertaken suggests that flexible labour arrangements could make effective use of every minute of a driver's time.
Regular labour audits
However generous the operating margins have been in the past, employers are now certainly faced with more effective competition and there is no possibility of competing in the market place if drivers are permitted to continue wasteful practices. Regular labour audits should become routine, both to determine the total complement of staff and to ensure its efficient deployment.
Any "weeding out" process is a traumatic experience for management but the traditional "last in, first out" principle should not be taken as sacrosanct. I know of a company where it was necessary to declare a number of drivers redundant but a frank talk with the shop steward led to the dismissal of some less worthy characters. (Some experienced drivers had left this company and returned to it after a time. On paper they had very little service since their last engagement but the company knew their worth and would have been most reluctant to dismiss them on the "last in, first out" principle.).
Some of the most successful companies in road haulage have made a conscious practice of employing high quality staff—and paying what the market demands for this. If the driving force is confined, say, to men between the ages of 26 and 35, all with sound experience, and hard workers, then it is easy to see that such a firm will be able to compete with all corners, given good management. Labour recruitment policies of this kind may ensure that there is the minimum of labour turnover, and hence, avoidable expense.
Training to the limit
Every firm cannot "cream the market" for the best staff, but it behoves every transport manager to make the best possible use of his human assets, training each person to the limit of his capacity in relation to the company's activity.
A small minority of road transport companies have had the benefit of _tachographs in recent years. Although transport managers are divided as to the cost/benefit of tachographs it is scarcely to be doubted that their general use would be beneficial to productivity. Reports of delays on the road or at collection and delivery points can easily be verified from tachograph discs and there are many reports of vehicles equipped with tachographs when purchased new, where the operators make little if any use of the instrument because of a delicate labour relations situation.
In view of the general industry attitude to tachographs—the doubts of employers as to the benefits measured against the cost of installation, calibration and maintenance—and the very firm resistance of trade unions to their fitment—it seems doubtful if employers can rely on any early help from this device. In the longer term, improvements in the design of tachographs could yield much greater benefits to employers and, hopefully, to drivers such as to outweigh objections to their use.
Adding further to costs
Although on the fringe of the wages problem, new legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Employment Protection Bill, equal pay legislation and industrial democracy legislation, will increase wage and salary costs and may decrease efficiency. There is no shadow of doubt that the Health and Safety at Work Act will add appreciably to employers' costs and responsibilities, whatever the size of the establishment.
Energy saving programmes, possibly reinforced by legislation, could affect existing payment schemes based on results. It is possible to imagine bonus awards for fuel saving, and for driving in such a way as to minimize maintenance and repair costs. There is certainly scope for many more safe driving schemes, despite the time these incur for management.
A number of road haulage employers, including sectors in the National Freight Corporation, are anticipating the strong European trend towards worker participation by saying to office or maintenance employees: "The company intend to spend Lx on your section next year; please discuss among yourselves how you would suggest this money be used." Drivers, for several years, have been influential in helping to decide what type of vehicle or equipment should be purchased. These trends should be encouraged in the interests of industrial harmony.
Drivers can help
In considering performance incentives for drivers the greatest possible use should be made of their experience in helping to make the company efficient. In expediting vehicle turn-round, and in winning economic return loads, drivers have a huge contribution to make. Assured of a fair working deal most drivers will not stint themselves in contributing help—fully to efficient operations, but drivers are merciless critics of slap-happy operations. Traffic office efficiency is the prime consideration in driver performance and motivation.
Recessions test the mettle of management and staff. Corn panies with a lively management will be thinking of things such as fleet-mix in relation to the availability of work at remunerative rates. Any change in the type of vehicles operated naturally poses the question: "Are our drivers fitted for changed operation/vehicles?" "What additional training is necessary?"
It makes sense at all times and especially in a serious recession, to be quite frank with all grades of staff about the general business situation and the particular problems of the company. Any major operating change cannot be contemplated without the consent—preferably full hearted—of the staff. How much more sensible, therefore, to enlist the co-operation of all employees in facing the present business difficulties.
There may be cases—indeed some have already occurred—where it is necessary for a company to contract its workforce. The old-fashioned type of manager decrees automatically that a certain proportion of the staff must go. Less hide-bound managers today are more disposed to challenge the staff to suggest alternative courses of action. This may or may not lead to effective suggestions, but it is in line with the spirit of the times. A choice between three or four day week working for all drivers or a 20 per cent cut in drivers employed may not be an enviable choice for employees to make but they are not fools; they know the kind of alternative work available in their area and they may prefer a worksharing arrangement to mass redundancies.