WINNING THE ARMY GAME
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The army's transport experts are not bound by law to use tachographs or observe drivers hours rules, but in the drive to boost efficiency they are doing so — to good effect.
• Imagine an operator's paradise where the worries of Dery prices, loading restrictions and tachographs are gone, and all that matters is to get the load to the destination on time.
There is at least one operator in the country where at least part of this would be true. This operator is exempt from drivers' hours regulations, does not need to run tachographs, and has an 'in transit' priority system that overides all other considerations.
Its name is 25 Freight Distribution Squadron of the Royal Corps of Transport. It does, however apply the standard driver's hours restrictions, and most surprisingly, it also uses Lucas Kienzle engine and road speed tachographs in its Dawson Contract hire fleet of 14 F10 Volvo tractor units, 16 FL6 Volvo rigids, and four FL612 12tonne rigids.
The squadron is based in Bicester and is responsible for transporting an army inventory of 250,000 different items to bases throughout the UK, and Europe. It is a test bed for some of the radical ideas that have come out of the army's 'lean look' programme for the more efficient use of resources.
RAMSHACKLE BUSINESS
Haulage for the army has always been a ramshackle business and none more so than in 1945, when the ex-soldiers who had purchased army vehicles with their gratuity payment went to work for the army, on the 'agreed flat rate'.
At the same time the army introduced a delivery system that ensured those units with the greatest need got their spares first. This became known as the 'standard priority system'.
It soon became clear that this priority system would not work with the civilian hauliers employed, and the army purchased its own fleet of vehicles to work alongside the civilian hauliers. A distribution squadron was started to look after the vehicles and the drivers and to oversee the operation of the priority System.
Operating a massive fleet of four-tonne Bedford rigids which took a great deal of maintenance to keep on the road, spot hiring Dawson Rental vehicles, and still using civilian hauliers certainly taught the army flexibility. The cost, however, did not endear itself to the efficiencyconscious Michael Heseltine who suggested that certain key areas of army operations should be used as test areas for cost savings.
Combined service vehicle buying was dismissed as impractical, given the nature of the experiment and the traditional rivalries of the three services. Contract hiring, however, provided a nonpermanent, low-cost solution to be tried on a small scale.
All the normal benefits of contract hiring accrued to the army, the principal one being a fixed monthly charge for all the vehicle running costs. In the event of war the army could simply requisition the vehicles.
Initially 17 companies tendered for the contract hire business and these were split up into priced and unpriced copies. The MoD took the priced copies and made a financial evaluation; the unpriced copies were looked at by the officers of 25 Squadron, who had experience of different vehicles and the squadron's needs.
Dawson Rental's experience in supplying spot hire vehicles to the unit probably gave it the edge over the opposition, and it won a five-year contract to supply vehicles. The contract can be cancelled at six months notice by either party, and vehicles can be changed at one months notice if they don't meet with the army's approval.
Although the unit's officers, Major David Bond and Captain Jim Meek, feel that vehicles such as the Mercedes and Scania ranges are very good, the Volvo range is their favourite choice because of its car-like driving position that they feel is important for the inexperienced drivers they often have to train.
CONTAINER STRIKE
All the vehicles have been specified with engine and road speed tachographs exclusively made by Lucas Kienzle after the unit's experience with tachographs on the Seddon Atkinson tractor units that were purchased around the time of the container strike.
Initially the units were fitted secretly to the vehicles to discover the reasons for a number of crashes and freight spillages that had occurred. The charts revealed excessive speeds and that drivers were making many unnecessary gear changes, wasting fuel and placing undue strain on driveline components.
Without any sophisticated analysis of the charts, Major Bond and Captain Meek were able to point out the faults to their drivers, many of whom were not aware that they had been doing anything wrong. The immediate result has been a consistent fall in fuel consumption of over 20% below the 1985 peak, which has saved the unit over £96,000 per year. Other benefits have been the reduced cost of contract hire from Dawson Rentals as the company realises that the maintenance costs will be much lower with such well maintained vehicles.
Although it would be quite possible for the two officers simply to order their men to comply with the driver instructions, the drivers have taken to the new spirit of professionalism wholeheartedly. The number of gear changes has been reduced, there is increased use of the exhaust brake and accident numbers have fallen, yet journey times have not increased. Apparently they are quite proud of the length of queue they can get behind them at 64km/h at 2am!
DISCIPLINE AND CONTROL
Major Bond feels that the tachograph does "install discipline and control over the drivers". He does admit, however, that the sort of methods that the units has used would not be acceptable in a commercial fleet. He has arranged for a more conventional course of driver training to take place at the unit and this has also shown benefits in fuel consumptions.
The use of contract hire has also enabled the unit to get high-specification vehicles and trailers for the vast number of different loading bays that exsist in army depots. "Napoleon, Wellington,. Palmerston, Hitler, and Thatcher have built the various loading bays we serve," says Major Bond. Side-loading containers had to be the answer, and Boalloy have made a curtin-sider semi-trailer with curtains that pull round to the front to clear the sides completely. A cargo restraint system is used for the unusual shaped loads carried, and the 12.2m trailers have moveable fifth-wheel couplings so that 38 tonnes could be carried if necessary.
The Volvo FIO units are also of a high specification, with alloy tanks, bumpers, and aerodynamic deflectors on the roof. All the equipment is well looked after and after each trip the tractor units and trailers get a hose down.
COST SAVINGS
Some figures are available for the cost savings that have been made, the efficiency benefits from contract hire vehicles and the use of road engine speed tachographs in driver training (see chart).
The exercise is now being evaluated by the MoD in Andover prior to a further study into the administration of army transport.
Major Bond and Captain Meek are sure that the system they run is an improvement though, and that "the proper control of tachographs is the best aid to fleet management", even in civilian fleets.
If the experiment is a success then the commercial possibilities are vast, with the possibility of contract hire for most of the army's standard transport vehicles, as well as its mechanical handling systems, its ambulances, and its buses.
The two officers hope that the 25 Freight Distribution Squadron will be a forerunner for a more efficient army transportation system. To this end a computer is now on order to analyse the tachograph data even further in the hope that more savings can be made.
So next time you get stuck behind a drab green Volvo F10 combination at two o'clock in the morning, don't swear and shout, it might be that the driver is one of the most professional on the road. El by Andrew English