The Elementary Principles of Group Working
Page 30
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Few Men in the Haulage Industry Can Equal the Author of This Article in Their Knowledge of a System of Co-operation Which is Steadily Gaining Adherents in Many Parts of the Country
By E. B. Howes, Chairman, A. Sounders and Son Co-operative Group;
Vice-chairman, Hauliers Mutual Federation
WITH particular interest I read S.T.R.'s article dealing with the growth of the grouping movement in the July 7 issue of " The Commercial Motor." I would like, if I may, to be allowed to comment upon certain aspects of the same subject. I can at least write with some authority on the matter, for I claim, as the founder of the Harpenden Group in 1936, to be the pioneer of the movement.
First, as to the method of formation. I am emphatically of opinion that the " gentleman's agreement" type of organization, in which the members of the group are loosely bound by an absolute minimum of rule, is the best. The Harpenden Group is of that type, and it has been consistently. I might say conspicuously, successful from the beginning. It has never looked back since it started and its growth has been continuous throughout the eight years of its existence. It is still growing. The rules have not been amended or altered in any way since the group was formed. They were outlined in S.T.R.'s article and there is no need for me to enlarge upon them here. , Your contributor is perfectly correct, too, in the point he make i that the inception of a group is usually due to price cutting; the group is formed to end that evil. Usually it curbs it, even if it does not stop it. The cutting of rates for.brick haulage was rife when our group was formed; in a very little while we had stabilized brick haulage rates at a_fair and economic level throughout the whole of Bedfordshire and beyond. Moreover, 103,000,000 bricks were carried by the group, at remunerative rates, over a period of 4i years.
Next, I would like to deal with the suggestion that groups should endeavour to arrange for the purchase of supplies in bulk and even vehicles at preferential prices. I think that is entirely wrong. After all, the principal object of grouping, after the initial stage of coping with rate-cutting is passed, is to preserve and promote the interests of the small man. Why should we deny to the small man in another industry, the retail motor trade, the rigirt to earn a living, in part, by selling to road .hauliers?
Where Commercial Travellers Are Welcome
That point still arises when we buy certain supplies, such as oil, petrol, and some kinds of spares, from wholesalers or direct from the manufacturers. We have been accustomed to receive commercial travellers from these concerns and, apart from all else, these men are a help to us in our work. We gain knowledge and receive assistance from them which we should not otherwise obtain. I, for one, am looking forward to the tinie when they again call upon us regularly.
Why, in any case, should we take such action as will put out of work a large number of small garage proprietors, employees in_garages, and commercial travellers who, as regards the majority of the younger ones at any rate, are fighting our battles for us overseas, under
seas, on land and in the air above?, As I write, thousands of them are, in a great company of Britons in the armed Feirces of the United Nations, taking part in the greatest military enterprise of all time. It will be a wonderful mark of mir gratitude to them if, by group 'manipulation in their absence, we provide that when they have finished the job and return to the home country, they will be unable to get back to their jobs again!
Group Members Must Keep Their Identities In any case, this collective buying strikes at the very foundation of the group movement which, to my 'mind, is achieving its proper objective only if it sustains and encourages the maintenance of the individualities of each constituent member of a group. There is indeed a danger thak groups, proceeding on the lines of establishment by complex memoranda and articles of association, with provision for collective action not only in bulk buying of supplies but in other things as well, will cease to continue as groups, but become financial mergers. The members will lose their identities and instead of groups of independent individual hauliers we shall have combines, just the very thing we are supposed to be fighting. That will indeed be a calamity.
Now to descend from principles to practice. What is going to be gained by depriving the motor trade of a legitimate part of its sales and revenue? A farthing a gallon on petrol and oil, a few pounds in the price of a lorry. The whole gain will be lost in the organization necessary to provide for efficient buying, storage, collection and distribution. All that, too, is apart from the fact that the manufacturer and wholesaler from. whom the supplies are bought will very, soon see the red light and adjust their prices accordingly, so that in tile end even the apparent gain will be lost and each group find itself saddled with an expensive purchasing organization which is saving the group precisely nothing in respect of its expenditure on these supplies: No, for the love of the groups, for the sake of the nioveinent, on behalf of the small haulier as well as the small motor trader, cut out bulk buying.
Incidentally, it may interest readers of -" The Commercial Motor," and 'especially those very many correspondents who have written, to me concerning my occasional contributions to that journal, to know that I am engaged on writing a booklet dealing with the industry in general, its recent past history and troubles, with, special reference to another booklet, lately produced by " The Eight." I shall deal in a constructive manner with the 'many proposals for its reconstitution and reorganization. It will be published at 2s. 6d. post free, the net proceeds to go to the funds of H.M.F. Anyone who would like me to reserve a copy of the limited number which I shall print, should write to rue c/o A. Saunders and Son (Harpenden), Ltd., Harpenden. Herts.