HAULING BY NUMBERS
Page 45
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20 November 1995: Exel first phase began.
1 December 1995: gradual control of second phase began.
95% of the vehicles are subcontractor operated.
A fleet of 750 vehicles is in use.
Each one is retained 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Vehicles overage 600 miles a day. About 60 million litres of water are moved every day. Average vehicle earnings are £4,000 per week.
The entire operation is controlled by bar codes.
Approximately 3,300 drivers have been issued with personal bar codes, so far.
A SUBCONTRACTOR'S DAY
John Carr runs Middlesbrough-based RTC Transport, a newly established operation set up just before the water bonanza began. He employs three shift drivers on his single Renault tractor which pulls a hired skeletal trailer and an 150 tank container. The drivers work on a double-shift seven-day rota beginning on Monday at 06:00hrs. Driver Alon Leach collects water from Darlington; the vehicle is weighed and three quality checks are made before the vehicle is cleared to embark on the 138-mile round trip to Leeds. Leach works the same 12-hour shift until the following Saturday. Second driver David Trotter takes over at 18:00hrs on Monday and repeats the run and procedure on his shifts until Thursday. Third driver Paul Smith takes over until Sunday. The shift pattern switches between the three; they will all work the same number of hours, conforming to all the specified EU rest period regulations over four weeks. Various measures ensure the subcontractors stick to the operational procedures. Exel's patrol vehicles discourage drivers from going off route and the bar-coding system helps prevent the build up of queues of vehicles trying to get into sites and in convoys along the motorways.
Carr says the use of bar-codes was not disconcerting, but extremely beneficial. "Departure and delivery time is allocated through the bar-code. It stops drivers rushing in to get a load and catching people up who left 10 minutes earlier," he says.
THE ROUTES
EXEL Phase 1: Darlington and York into Eccup reservoir near Leeds, 30 million litres a day (20 Nov-1 Dec).
EXEL Phase 2: Barmby and Halifax across to Scammonden reservoir, 30 million litres a day (1-21 Dec).
EXEL Phase 3: Barmby to Scammonden, involving 100-plus vehicles (from 2 Jan).