RHA meets McAlpine for talks
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on by-pass rates BY IA IN SHERRIFF MITA
• . . AND HAULIERS PRESS NCB FOR REVIEW
"THE problem of tipping operators' rates again reared its head this week in North Wales. The decision of North Western LA Mr. C. R. Hodgson to withhold renewal of short-term B licences for contractors on the Abergele Llandulas by-pass resulted from an RHA objection that the rates offered were uneconomic and that there was suf ficient spare capacity in the arqa to meet the need. The LA invited the RHA and Sir Alfred McAlpine and Son Ltd., the principal contractorie, to meet and discuss the rates question (COMMERCIAL MOTOR, January 6). Road Foundations Ltd. and W. and G. Howells and Partners are responsible to the main contractor for haulage at the by-pass. These sub-contractors pay the hauliers, who are in the main owner-operators, 2s. 6d. per ton, less 24 per cent and in some cases less 5 per cent.
The haul between the quarry and the by-pass is approximately 10 miles return, and I understand that the maximum achieved to date is 10 loads per day.. Most of the operators are achieving much less than this.
On Tuesday there were 12 vehicles still operating at Abergele, but the B licences authorizing the traffic are gradually running out. Since the LA does not intend to renew the short-term B licences until he is satisfied that the 2s. 6d. a ton is adequate, the ownerdrivers are being advised by the subcontractors to operate on C hiring licences. To operate in this way it will be necessary for the owner-drivers to engage drivers as in their capacity of owners they cannot operate under such a licence.
The meeting suggested by the LA took place on Tuesday when the RHA submitted its rates35. 6d. per ton for rockfill and 3s. 3d. per ton for graded materials. The tonnage required for the four-mile/ stretch of by-pass is approximately 600,000 and the increased rates would mean an additional £25,000 on contract.
Feeling among established contractors in the area is that no cognizance was taken of an adequate road haulage rate by the principal contractor when pricing the job originally. One contractor suggested to me that in this case as in many others haulage had been the last concern.
In addition to the rates offered the RHA has offered to make available 45 vehicles immediately with the possibility of more if required; and to streamline the administration it is prepared to set up a control point at Abergele.
I visited the site this week and watched the
infill taking place. The Abergele by-pass is neither better nor worse than other such sites but certainly vehicles working there require a high standard of maintenance. This is a factor which plays a big part in the RHA costings.
The drivers I spoke to had not compiled their rates. They told me they had accepted the rates offered to them without question. In each case they stated that they were satisfied that they were showing a profit on the £60 per week which they were being paid by the sub-contractors.
One driver, however, "dropped by the wayside" on Tuesday. He told me that his vehicle was breaking down daily and he could not afford to continue to run on the contract.
Mr. Edgar Williams of the RHA told me the meeting had been amicable, that the RHA rates were now being submitted by the site agent to his head office and that a reply was expected within a few days.
The claim that public works contracts are signed by client and. civil engineering contractor before hauliers are consulted appears to be substantiated by events which took place in December. Hauliers were being asked to run materials from a quarry to a site 25 miles distant at 6s. per ton. They asked for 6s. 9d. and were refused. They withdrew their vehicles from the quarry on December 24 and the quarry owners lost the contract.
1 learned at Abergele that rates troubles are not confined to public works contracts: the NCB in the area is also showing dissent over haulage rates.
In July 1966, at the instigation of the Licensing Authority, BRS, RHA, NCB, an association of solid fuel suppliers, and the Gas and Electricity boards met to discuss certain aspects of coal haulage by road. The LA's primary concern was the after effects of the seamen's strike on the fuel and power industry and the effects of a severe winter on fuel supplies to power stations.
In the initial stages the parties drew up a plan of campaign to cope with emergency traffic. It was agreed that to increase rail-borne coal to
power stations additional road requirementE would be channelled through BRS to the Road Haulage Association, The rates were agreed.
For all other additional road traffic the NCE said it wished-to channel its requirements througt one agent and the RHA agreed to accept this.
As the series of meetings progressed, the NCE suggested that the LA should grant additional licences to cope with the expected additional traffic. To this the RHA replied that no addi. tional licences would be required.
The REA contended that the vehicles hired by NCB in the past had been under-utilized, creating a false shortage. To the NCB's allegation that ii could not obtain sufficient vehicles to meet its needs, the RHA replied that this was because thc Coal Board in the area would not pay an economi( rate.
The hauliers have, I understand, repeatedly asked the NCB for a rates review in the North West without success. The coal board representative, Mr. Gaskell, has told the hauliers that during the period of severe restraint his board cannot review prices. But the Board has increased rates in an adjoining area, say hauliers.
At the final meeting of all the parties last Friday, the LA suggested that the NCB and the RHA should get together and discuss the rates question. I understand that the NCB is not prepared to do this. It intimated that it now wished to negotiate the rates and deal with individual hauliers for emergency traffic.
Mr, William Farnorth, RHA secretary, North Western (Eastern) area, told me that any application for short-term B licences supported by NCB would be opposed. Recent decisions by Mr. Hodgson indicate that where the existing hauliers can show availability short-term B licences will not be granted.
The efforts of the Licensing Authority to cope with the winter emergency have to date met with little success. The road operators say that they are prepared to meet the area coal board officials now, and they stress the point that next week may be too late.