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by David Lowe, MInstTA, AMB1M
Page 50
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ABOARD a cross-Channel ferry I admired an AEC sleeper-cab Mandator articulated outfit proudly bearing the legend "Harding Bros (Shipping Contractors) Ltd—ships' stores UK /Europe". Some weeks later! was able to visit the small shop in the back streets of Avonmouth which serves this company as hq, and this revealed a fascinating story of an enterprising and most unusual transport business.
Originally a family butcher's business in Bristol dating back to 1856, progressing to the supply of ships' provisions after the Second World War, the business, four years ago when the present management took over, became a full-scale supplier of all the needs for keeping a ship at sea.
Michael Harding and his cousin Brian have transformed the company during this time into an organization capable of supplying anything from a teaspoon to an anchor chain, from plastic buckets to engine spares and from frozen pork chops to navigation charts. This of itself is no mean achievement but to find that they supply any ship, at any port in Europe, with such items at competitive prices by road speaks highly for the organization, the planning and the entrepreneurial foresight of these two men.
Stocks of provisions and refrigerated foods, dry goods and engineering parts and supplies—the number of lines runs into many thousands—are held in Avonmouth both at the shop and at a warehouse in the docks. Bonded stores are also supplied and carried, these always being loaded last from bonded warehouses and the vehicle customs sealed.
It is from here that the Harding's Continental fleet—two AEC Mandators and one Mercury each with a sleeper cab, and one Bedford and two Fords with TIR bodies—are dispatched on journeys to places as far afield as Stockholm in the North, to Palma, Naples, Split -(Yugoslavia) and Lisbon in the South.
The company supplies 20 British shipowners with all their chandlery requirements and on two occasions has provided all the requirements for fully fitting out new ships built at Cadiz.
The question might be asked: why is it necessary for a British supplier to take goods and particularly food right across Europe for a ship when it could be obtained locally? The answer is twofold. Firstly, Harding can stock ships in foreign ports at prices competitive with those which would be paid buying foreign, and, secondly, so far as food is concerned all British ships must carry food which meets the Board of Trade approved standard and the surest way of getting this is to buy from a British supplier—besides, British seamen prefer British food. Groceries and meats supplied to ships at Continental ports by local suppliers is generally both expensive and of inferior quality.
Not only can Harding supply at competitive prices but it can do this on time. Ships are expensive assets while sitting in port so no ship-owner wants to tolerate delay waiting for stores. They must be taken on board while the vessel is discharging and reloading and Harding's planning ensures that its vehicles, however far they have to travel, get there on time—something which they have not yet failed to do. A recent example of Harding's service was an order received on a Wednesday to supply a super tanker berthing in Trieste on the following Sunday and only due to remain in port for 24 hours. Not only was the order completed to time but it was completed without infringing the Italian regulations which prevent goods vehicles from travelling on Sundays.
Another example of the problems faced and overcome was that of a vehicle sent to restock a ship due to berth at Le Havre. Unfortunately, for some reason the ship did not berth and carried on to Lisbon. Harding's vehicle had to set off in pursuit and permits had to be arranged very quickly while the vehicle was en route, all in a day's work— that is 7.30 am to 7.30 pm six days a week for Michael and Brian Harding.
This type of transport requires a particular brand of driver—one not easily found and difficult to retain for more than about 18 months because of the disruption to home life. Drivers have to be representatives of the company in addition to being competent at piloting a vehicle across Europe, dealing with customers and so on. They, come into contact with ships' captains, chief engineers and chief stewards, all of whom would be quick to report back if the service wasn't satisfactory.
The vehicles are rather special too. Although they carry refrigeration equipment, sliding partitions are used to separate the refrigerated foodstuff from the other food and from the other supplies. The partitions are adjusted according to the proportions are of each commodity required. For full return loads of refrigerated produce—the vehicles never come back empty—the partitions can be opened out to provide full-load refrigeration.
Maintenance and vehicle reliability play an important part in the operation and although some work is done by Harding's own staff most servicing is done outside. Failures on the Continent have been few and Mr Michael Harding told me in answer to a question about buying foreign, as many TIR operators have done, that he prefers to buy British and for the moment is continuing to do so. The only changes in purchasing policy in the near future will be to buy 10-metre rather than 12-metre trailers because generally they don't get the full payload with the 12-metre units. The small vehicles are utilized for smaller loads and the Bedford is fitted with twistlocks and carries a 20ft refrigerated ISO container. The advantage of this is that the container can be lifted by crane---ships or dockside—on board and unloaded quickly before being returned to the vehicle.
Tachographs are fitted on two of the Continental vehicles—the drivers accept them—and it is planned to have them installed on all of the Continental vehicles. One of the reasons for fitting them was an episode where a vehicle became "lost" in Spain for a whole day--the driver unable to, or refusing to, account for his movements causing the loss of a return load worth some £300 to £400. And that was more than enough money to fit all the fleet with these instruments.