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Tipper Rates
Page 101
Page 102
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in two areas—and finds a surprising contrast
IN THE EAST MIDLANDS:, Tipper men are being held to ransom by their customers REGULATIONS governing hours of work, rest periods and vehicle maintenance are widely disregarded,mainly because of intense competition and rate-cutting still going on despite the efforts of the more reasonable type of haulier to prevent it. So said the Trades Union Congress recently in its evidence to the Geddes Committee. The T.U.C. was referring, of course, to the haulage industry generally. But never could there be a truer statement about one particular branch of the
industry—the tipper operators. And when I use the word " tipper " in this context, I refer to the ordinary, common-orgarden type four-, sixor eight-wheeler, that carries, usually within a local radius, coal and coke, slurry, soil and road and building materials. I am not referring to the more sophisticated, specialized bulk-carrying tippers, hauling chemicals and the like over long distances. . .
Make no mistake about it, there is no doubt that general tipper operators are hardly able to make ends meet. They are being forced to run at rates that can hardly be described as economical, let alone profitable. In most cases they are being held to ransom by contractors who—because of an availability of vehicles being offered by unscrupulous "pirates" prepared to run the risk of working without licences, road fund tax and insurance—are in a position to dictate the
rates payable for haulage. .
To find out more about present conditions I visited the East Midlands—a licensing area where tipping vehicles pre
dominate. The area contains the prosperous Nottingham and Derbyshire coalfields and large roadwork programmes are currently being undertaken in connection with extensions to the 1141 motorway and several by-passes.
The atikt, so far as tipper men are concerned, is populated in the main by operators running smallto medium-sized fleets of between 10 and 30 vehicles. Between them there is an
excellent code of conduct. They are extremely loyal and friendly towards each other and, I am told, there is no "throat cutting" or filching of work.
Discussions with these operators revealed a shocking state of affairs—a situation for which there appears to be no certain remedy, unless the Road Traffic Act is so amended as to bring the fixing of rates within the ambit of Licensing Authorities, in the same way that p.s.v. fares are controlled by Traffic Commissioners.
Most of these hauliers started in the haulage business at the end of the War, and it would appear that, at a time when they should be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their respective labours, employing " someone else to run then fleets, they are unable to discard their overalls because. they cannot afford to do so.
This is purely and simply because of low rates. One operator to whom I spoke (" No names, please—I have to live with my customers -) told me that for carrying a certain commodity at the moment he is paid a mere 145. 9d. per ton. In 1947, for precisely the same commodity to the same destination, he was paid 20s. lid, a ton! This represents a preposterous reduction in rates of approximately 30 per cent. Bearing in mind that the running costs of the average vehicle in that time have risen by about 117 per cent, and not forgetting the fact that vehicles now cost considerably more than they did 15 years ago, it is not surprising to find that most of these hauliers have to maintain, and often drive, their vehicles themselves. (It is a startling fact that if haulage rates kept pace with the rise in operating costs, as quoted above, a more appropriate rate for the particular commodity in question would be just over 45s. a ton.)
En the face of such low returns, the average tipper haulier cannot afford the luxury of employing mechanics, neither canhe afford to have a vehicle off the road under repair at the distributor's local depot.
There are, however, two redeeming features that have saved most operators from either pulling out of haulage or going bankrupt—increased efficiency, in the form of more easily maintained and serviced vehicles, and the fact that most hauliers are able to operate eight-wheelers instead of the smaller vehicles of seven or eight years ago. But, unfortunately, because of the rates, these men have not felt the benefit that can be expected when using bigger and better vehicles.
Generally speaking, it would seem that rates in the area are the same as they were eight years ago, and the common feeling (put to me by individual' hauliers, by the way) is that a27
a 20 to 25 per cent increase in rates is necessary to enable them to be able to carry on. One question that I asked each haulier to whom I spoke was: "Who is to blame for the low rates?" I was told that, in the case of coal, the factors who buy from the Coal Board. and other middlemen were to blame. They, like some of the clearing houses in the area usually make their profit solely from the haulage contractor.
So far as the larger type of road and building contractors are concerned, hauliers are generally given no chance to quote a rate. They are told the quantity of materials to be moved, and what the price per ton or cubic yard is, on a "take it or leave it " basis. Because the price is usually *low, the refusal by responsible operators is usually misconstrued as an indication that• there are not enough licensed vehicles in the area to undertake the work. Thus the job goes to an outsider who is prepared to cut the rate, often at the expense of public safety in the form of driver's hours and vehicle fitness—one in every four goods vehicles tested in the East Midland area between October 1962, and September 1963, was the subject of a prohibition notice.
I was given instances of vehicles in. the area being run on a part-time basis. The owners, working full time for the Coal Board or with other salary paying firms, purchase used vehicles. They then legally enter the industry by the" back door ", obtaining Contract A licences, and operate the vehicles in the livery of the contract customer. Of course, such persons can afford to undercut the full-time hauliers because any profit, however small, is purely pocket money—their full-time jobs pay the rent and buy the bread and butter.
Armed with all this information I approached the East Midland Licensing Authority, Mr. C. R. Hodgson. When I mentioned the strong complaints about the lawful, and often
unlawful; pirate operations, Mr. Hodgson shrugged his shoulders and said: "What can I do—with only seven enforce, ment officers to cover 10 counties? " I asked him if his enforcement staff was doing all it could to catch the offenders. Mr. Hodgson assured me that his men were prepared to work outside normal working hours to nab the fly-by-night drivers who, seemingly, are prepared to run throughout the night so as not to be caught operating without licences. In his last annual report to the .Minister, Mr. Hodgson referred to unacceptable rates for road construction projects, brought about by competition from hauliers operating on much lower overheads and inadequately calculated rates coupled with illegal haulage. " This inability to negotiate proper rates undoubtedly accounts for some of the early business failures occurring amongst this
class of haulier ", he said. .
Having outlined the problems and difficulties being experienced by tipper men over rates in the East Midlands, I asked one or two well-known figures in the industry what could be done. The feeling was, first and foremost, that the . tipper operators must stick to their guns and not work, in any circumstances, below, a. certain minimum rate. Obviously, if there were no cut-rate pirates, bona fide hauliers would be able to, insist on economical rates from their customers. Not only should. there be a" larger enforcement staff, but hanliers, perhaps through their local Road Haulage. Association tipper group, should find a means of closing the licensing gap which allows "outsiders" to work in the area.
They should have at their disposal a reservoir of vehicles, and when outsiders (and not only do I. mean foreign-based operators, but also newcomers and part-timers) apply for facilities to enable them to work within the area, evidence could be given to the Authority of this vehicle availability, in the faCe of which the Licensing Authority would be bound to refuse the application.
More use should be made of the licensing courts by objecting operators to ensure that the question of rates comes before the Licensing Authority. Provided proper notice is given, the 1960 Road Traffic Act authorizes Licensing Authorities to take into consideration rates when considering applications, and, under section 17.8(1)(e) they can revoke, suspend or curtail licences if they consider that rates charged are "insufficient to meet the cost of rendering those services".
Tipper work is highly specialized. A great deal of" it is carried out under difficult conditions away from properly Made up road surfaces, and the rate of repairs and overhauls and vehicle replacement is .far higher than in the ordinary general type of haulage business. Apart from the inadequacy of the enforcement in the East Midland traffic area through staff shortages, the remedy would seem to lie in the established hauliers' own hands.