Most truck operators couldn't give a hoot about truck manufacturers' global machinations. They're more interested in the health of their
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
local dealer. But as operators are increasingly put through the mill with higher costs and ever-tighter deadlines they're looking to get more from a dealer, reports Brian Weatherley.
Dealer times are ichanging
• by Brian Weatherley Nothing, and no one is immune from change. Just how much truck dealers have had to adapt to meet the changing reeds of operators was recently demonstrated at North East Truck & Van—the Teesside-based Iveco Ford dealer which is celebrating 30 years in the business. NET&V group operates three sites—in Billingharn, Blaydon and Immingham—employing more than 200 staff in its aftersales operation working 156,000 hours a year.
The impetus for dealer changes is coming from everincreasing operator aspirations, says aftersales director Alastair Kidd. Where the average working week for a truck was 50 hours back in 1969, today it can be up to 150 hours with double and triple shifting. In 1969 the average breakdown was anything between six and 10 hours. Customers won't tolerate that kind of downtime today
Network
"Across the Nem) Ford network the average is 101 minutes and at NET&V our average is IT minutes,'' says Kidd. 'And during August we brought that down to 59 minutes—and NET&V has the biggest geographical area to cover in the UK." As operators work longer hours the dealer is also expected to stay open all hours. Thirty years ago Kidd says the average dealer was open 50 hours and closed for 118 per week. 'Today were open 136 hours and closed for just 32."
Likewise parts stocking has increased to ensure that the phrase, "Sorry, we haven't got one in the store,' is a thing of the past. Where NET&V used to hold £20,000-worth of parts stock in 1969, that figure's grown to £1.8m.
Workshop
Standard working week for workshop fitters was 50 hours in 1969; today its 136 hours with out-of-hours servicing hours having rocketed.
These days operators are too busy working their trucks to have them off the road during a "working' day.
And even the 'closed hours'' aren't totally closed, because like many dealers, NET&V has to provide 24-hour cover for parts and repairs.
When it comes to tracking the growth in the number of "out of hours" fitters, in 1969 North East used to have one or two, depending on customer demands. 'Today, we've 27 ser
vice technicians and 12 parts technicians who work specifically outside the normal 08:00 to 17:00hrs working day," says Kidd.
Fast-changing truck technology also puts dealers under ever-increasing pressure to keep up with the hardware.
North East's training budget is over £150,000 a year with time needed for manufacturers' product and customer service courses, never mind in-house training.
Kidd says that at any time in the year at least two of NET&V's service staff are on a training course and that has its own knock-on effect: 'That's a major problem for us. A lot of companies decide that when times are hard, training is one of the first things that goes on the back burner. But we believe that you can never stop training.'' NET&V chairman Bill Beadnall believes that over the past 10 years dealers have witnessed the most accelerated development in the industry. And changes will continue to affect all aspects of the industry, not least dealers. And the commercial vehicle dealers must meet those challenges if they are to survive." Beadnall cites the arrival of the rental and contract hire companies as having a major impact on the dealer/operator relationship— especially who actually supplies a haulier with a vehicle.
Partnership
'We've got to be inventive and shape products that help the operator cut costs. We know the difference between the rhetoric of a partnership and the reality. We also have to find the alternative to the large rental fleets to retain a share of the market" NET&V's boss admits: The cost of meeting legislation has been enormous and some people say the days of the dealer are numbered—the day of the dealer is nigh.
"Certainly the days of selling trucks for 2p and relying on spares to make money are ever. But everyone should resist the erosion of the dealer networks, the industry will be worse off without strong vibrant dealers."