Cargofax goes open
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THE Road Haulage Association has scrapped the idea of restricting its Cargofax computer system to members. JACK SEMPLE reports.
The door is now open for talks on a merger with its rival Datafreight, run by the National Freight Consortium. And a link with the National Farmers Union's Prestel-based closed user group, which at present gives market prices, is very likely. The RHA's national council decided in principle to open Cargofax to non-members when it met last month. Details are being considered by the executive board.
The system has attracted 140 subscribers since it was launched a year ago, but this is below the RHA's expectation.
It was clear that a wider base was needed. Strong support for this view came from the NOB, the RHA's Dutch equivalent, which now has a thriving system but struggled to make it a success when it was limited to members. The RHA has been trying to link Cargofax to the NOB system for international traffic.
In opening Cargofax, the RHA has removed the largest obstacle to a merger with Datafreight, which was always intended to be open to the whole industry.
No formal talks have started, according to the RHA, but cooperation between the two is seen as inevitable eventually.
One option open to the two sides would be to form a joint venture. There is already a precedent in RHA Computer Services, formed with Freight Computer Services, and RHA Insurance Services, the brokerage formed with Bain Dawes.
Datafreight was moved from British Road Services to Pickfords Group at the end of last year, and now works closely with FCS.
The prospect of a link with the NFU's Prestel system, which has 600 members at present, will please many agricultural hauliers.
Brian Fowler, who runs the NFU system, said on Monday that he had been impressed by the potential of Cargofax. Farmers would almost certainly use it for moving loads, he said.
• RHA Western district manager Bert Simpson said on Monday that not one of his 1,500 members was using the service whereby for a small fee they could phone the Bristol office and ask if any loads were available on Cargofax. "All it takes is a phone call. Nothing could be more simple," he observed.
THE GOVERNMENT'S record of road spending was attacked by Ford chairman Sam Toy.
Speaking at the Freight Transport Association's South East region dinner in London, he said that the Government had a blinkered view of road spending which industry would never take.