Co-operation in Long-distance Haulage • An Answer to Certain Criticisms
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Made by Mr. E. B. Howes By in His Article, "What Local Grouping Implies" . M. W. HTarris,
A.M.Inst..
ICANNOT resist the challenge which Mr. E. ,13. Howes has thrown out to me in the article which appeared in ., your issue dated May 9. This contribution purported to be a reply to Mr. Bottomley's criticisms of Mr. Howes's writing, but as it was aimed directly at myself and the scheme in which I am interested, I feelthat I am fully entitled to reply. No doubt Mr. Bottomley would also want ft. say something to Mr. Howes; and I think I can safely leave it to him to handle the first few paragraphs of his article. It is sufficient for me to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mr. Howes's very immodest claims of,. superior knowledge. I was particularly tickled at his offer to give Mr. Bottornley a free copy of his book.
Mr. Howes starts off by saying that he is intimately acquainted with the facts of grouping in all its aspects and that he has a knowledge of the personnel concerned in our proposed venture. I feel confident that when readers have examined my reply they will agree that Mr. Howes has shown a woeful lack of knowledge of the facts, and i would strongly recommend that he should make some inquiries in • future before jumping to wrong conclusions.
I was called last week to attend a meeting of the directors of First Haulage Pool, Ltd., of which one of my companies is a member, and I was asked to explain the constitution and objects of the new company which is in the course of formation. I was told that considerable apprehension had been expressed by leaders of the grouping movement and that the secretary of the Association had received requests from 14 different sources all asking for information as to how to form long-distance-haulage groups on the lines recently reported in the Press. This information came as a surprise to me; but it is only further proof that the scheme is sound and that it appeals to a very large section of longdistance hauliers. I then proceeded to explain the detailed workings of our scheme and my explanation was considered to be completely satisfactory. I was congratulated on having formulated a very useful scheme for the benefit ofthose long-distance hauliers with whom I was intimately
connected. The directors of First Haulage Pool, Ltd., appreciated that the company which I was forming really amounted to a domestic tie-up between some 90-50 hauliers, the majority of whom had co-operated with Burrows Transport, Ltd., over a, period of many years and who desired to cement relations with a view to encouraging inter-trading and to extend the services and facilities which, between them, they were able to contribute towards the good of the industry and to traders generally.
No Prejudice Against Local Groups
• The mere fact that one of my companies is a member of First Haulage Pool, Ltd., should be convincing proof that I am not prejudiced against locally formed groups, and in tact "I have advocated at every meeting that I have attended, that all our members should join their locally formed groups for the' benefits which this type of grouping bestows upon them, I have also contended, and in this I have the support of numerous operators, including many who are members of locally formed groups, that the formation of a company such as that in which I am interested, is of much greater benefit to specialists in long-distance work, than can ever be the case with locally formed groups. The reason for this is quite clear to see. Locally formed groups which comprise, -as Mr. Howes explains, " hauliers of all kinds who undertake all sorts of work," are physically unable to give the same personal service and attention x.■ hich 90 or 50 hauliers can undertake to do within their own comparatively small circle. The groups are altogether too vast and unwieldy to cater specially for the needs of the long-distance haulier.
. Mr, Howes will no doubt appreciate that I am not using the term " local _groups " as I realize that this is a misnomer, but he will notice that I give the description " locally formed groups" as a distinction between the,
ordinary groups and the company which we are forming. Our company is somewhat unique in the fact that it comprises hauliers from all over the country, and with few exceptions we restrict membership to one haulier per town or district. The company does not intend to be competitive with locally formed groups, but is simply a body of hauliers geegraphically placed to •give the utmost benefit to its members and to traders.
Mr. Howes's biting remarks concerning -my .upposed objection to the constitution of the Hauliers' Mutual Federation and his reference to my fears for the future of clearing houses, are not only irrelevant but result from his imagination. It`is generally known that Burrows Transpoit, Ltd., is not a clearing house in the commonly accepted sense, but has always acted as an agent for long-distance hauliers. Some 34 hauliers are joined with Burrows Transports Ltd.,' in composite• advertisements, and most of these comprise the bulk membership of the new company. So far as I can see, Burrows Transport, Ltd.', will receive no greater benefit from the new company than will any other member, but Mr. Howes may be pleased to note that by the rules governing the new company, Burrows Transport, Ltd., voluntarily restricts itself to an agreed commission. It may also be a point of interest to Mr. Howes to know that I am a member of the R.H.A. Licensing Committee, which is dealing with the question of side-contracting,
We Must Prepare Now For Action Mr. Howes makes the extraordinary suggestion that we are atterapting to gain control of long-distance hauliers and that in so doing we are likely to be in conflict with the Ministry Road Haulage Organization, and indicates that any such move would be illegal. What a pity it is that Mr. Howes did not inquire about our aims and objects before making such futile observations. . Quite obviously we cannot commence long-distance operations until after the control is lifted, but we should be foolish to wait until the road haulage scheme was disbanded before we prepare.
I am afraid that I cannot answer Mr. Howes's question
s as to whether the Government, through the M.O.W.T , has given its blessing to our new company. I doubt whether it has even heardof our activities, but it is perhaps of interest to mention the fact that quite a number of controlled undertakings has shown a definite interest and at the moment 'eight have declared themselves in favour. This is not surprising, as in some ways our scheme runs about parallel to the R.H.O. The members will take the place of the unit centres and will perform very much the same functions.
As one unit controller indicated at our first meeting, the plan is really a continuance of the Ministry's scheme, with the advantage that it will be operated solely by members of the industry who are anxious to assist each other and to give the best possible service to traders. It will be minus the red tape and the many disadvantages which accompany a war-time -organization, the main object of which isto get essential traffic moved urgently without too much attention to economy. . We, as a group of commercially trained operators, will run our scheme mainly with economy and efficiency as.our guiding light. These will be the principal differences between the R.H.O. and our company. '
In fairness to Mr. Howes, I consider that the last part of his ,article is well below his best standard and .quite obviously a lot of it was written with a complete misunderstanding of the facts concerning our new company. Mr. Howes closes by saying that he maintains that the proposed new company is redundant. This opinion is not shared by the many operators who have already declared their
interest in our proposals. The mere fact that at to-morrow's meeting at the Waldorf Hotel there will be gathered together some 60 operators (we are limited to this number by the hotel), coming front areas so far distant as Scotland and Cornwall, is surely sufficient answer to Mr. Howes's claim.