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FARM TRANSPORT THREATENED BY INADEQUATE ROADS

Hauliers hear of agricultural transport problems; the effects of EEC membership on sugar beet and livestock carriage; and the DoE's weighbridge plans.

by Anthony O'Toole

A WARNING that rural transport could slowly grind to a standstill unless better roads were built urgently was given on Saturday by the vice-president of the National Farmers' Union. Mr David Darbishire was speaking at the Road Haulage Association's first National Conference of Agricultural and Livestock Operators.

The conference, held from June 8 to 11 at Droitwich Spa, Worcester, was attended by some 50 delegates. They not only heard warnings about the threat to rural transport but details of the new system of charging for sugar beet transport, resulting from Britain's EEC membership. Also, a spokesman from the Department of the Environment told, operators that, from next year, about 100 new weighbridges, many of them capable of axle weighing, would be installed over a three-year period.

Opening the conference, Mr Reg Cooper, chairman of the RHA West Midland area, said he felt there were too few conferences and there was too little unity among members; there was a danger of complacency. But the RHA would not always be on the defensive in the face of the present criticism and public antagonism — it would shortly "go over to the attack".

Mr Cooper urged delegates to "dig in their toes" on the issue of axle overloading. This was a major problem facing not only the agricultural haulier but operators in general and the public was not aware that the operator derived no benefit from this type of "so-called overloading".

More capital

In the first business session, Mr Darbishire said there was an urgent need to inject much more capital into the network of rural roads. Agriculture and its ancillary interests constituted Britain's largest single .ndustry. Even the comparatively small 00-acre arable farm required the transportation of about 800 tons of its produce, plus the carriage of around 100 tons of fuel, fertilizers and other production requirements. A similar size of dairy farm would have an output of around 600 tons, while intensive Pig and poultry units would be handling far larger tonnages per acre.

"Here you have," he said, "an industry with a turnover of £3,000m and spending f200m a year on the transport of its produce and raw materials, using roads inadequate to modern needs. It is a situation which is bound to slow the tempo of output, and one which if not tackled could in time grind rural transport to a standstill."

With the rapidly changing face of transport and the size and types of vehicles used the consumer could well suffer as a result of inefficient distribution adding unnecessarily to food costs. Adequate roads capable of meeting the increased volume of farm traffic would make more economic the transport of essential goods and services to and from Britain's farms, he added.

"The transport industry, of which we are a very important customer, cannot be expected to extend its own efficiency to our industry unless roads are able to cope properly with the present-day requirements."

Questioned from the floor as to whether it would be possible for the NFU to join the RHA in seeking a more tolerant view from the DoE in cases of marginal axle overloading, Mr Darbishire replied that he was in full sympathy with the haulier's problem and said that he believed there was a case for discussion.

Farm access problems

Mr J. B. Hempsall (Hempsall Transport, East Midland area) asked if the speaker favoured co-operation between haulier and the farmer in ironing out some of the smaller problems which arose on delivery and collection at farms. Many farms, said Mr. Hempsall, were inadequately signposted or addressed. Access gates were often too small to accommodate goods vehicles a old farm implements left lying about wt occasionally the cause of damage to vehic tyres.

Mr Darbishire felt that both parti should attempt to co-operate in solvi, these difficulties and agreed that gat were often too narrow and access row of a poor standard. It was unfortuna that sometimes, as the result of qui small problems, operators refused take their vehicles on to the type farm in question to carry out the job.

Answering an allegation that lorries wei sometimes kept waiting up to two houi on farms before being loaded or unloadel Mr Darbishire explained that on the fan of today the staff was relatively sma and unless the farmer knew roughly whe the vehicle would be arriving it was difficu to ensure that a member of the farm' staff would be there to meet it. Referrin to the actual operation of loading an unloading, he thought this was usuall a two-man job, which should be undertakei by the driver and a farm worker an' not left to either one of these two persons On being informed that Continental driver were loath to become involved in loadini or unloading, Mr Darbishire commented "Then British hauliers will be in mon demand."

Mr A. Dent (Albert Dent (Hilgate) Ltd Eastern area) claimed that certain lorrie which Mr Darbishire had said arrive( at farms in very poor condition wen mainly owned by "cowboy" operators. Tht means of deterring such operators wtv mainly in the hands of the farmer, said Mi Dent.

Beet rates system Speaking on sugar beet transportation, Mr David Horsley, chief chemist with British Sugar (formerly the Britislr -Sugar Corporation) said that because of an EEC ruling farmers would in future be paid a price per ton for beet which included a percentage to cover transport costs. However, the price of 40p per ton for clean beet, plus 2p per mile — with a maximum of 30 miles — allowed to the farmers would not automatically be passed on to the agricultural haulier. It would be up to the haulier to negotiate his charges with the farmer; the introduction of a transport percentage had, he emphasized, been made necessary by EEC regulations.

Referring to the transport needs of British Sugar, Mr Horsley said that of the vehicles involved in every yearly "campaign" 70 per cent — and certainly not less than 60 per cent — should be tippers. These vehicles would discharge their loads into storage silos for use at night as well as weekends. In order to overcome the problem of an insufficient percentage of tipping vehicles, British Sugar had recently installed a new system which enabled them to elevate non-tipping lorries to an angle of 45 degrees.

Mr 'Horsley revealed that British Sugar was continuing its weighbridge replacement programme and in the past two years had installed 14 new 50ft-platform !ighbridges with a capacity of 50 tons. further four wee scheduled for stallation in next year's programme. "We e looking to weighbridge handling rates 100 weighings per hour, coupled with ita processing of the permit of delivery hich accompanies each load. In order I achieve this, we have a documentmveying system which enables the lorry river to remain in his cab throughout re weighing operation," he said.

The permit system was designed to isure the correct number of deliveries t each of British Sugar's 17 factories, ecause each campaign was run to a tight :hedule. At an average load weight of 0 tons, last year's crop, Mr Horsley tated, required delivery in some 670,000 )rry loads. Deliveries were made by both he farmer and the agricultural haulier .nd for this reason there was a very vide range in the type of vehicles used. ks these vehicles tended to vary from .mall farm tractor /trailer units to large :ommercial vehicles the design of reception *acilities, such as sampling equipment, was nade difficult and any move towards some evel of standardization would be welcomed.

Because of the variation in vehicle types the load-platform heights also differed greatly and it was not always possible to carry out sampling because the automatic beet sampler could not take vehicles above certain height.

Mr Horsley explained in detail how Britain's entry into the EEC would affect the production and disposal of British sugar beet. Summing up, he said: "We are living in a very challenging time. Two years ago I described our industry as having a 10-million-ton haulage requirement each year. I think we can look forward to 10-million-tons-plus in the future."

International livestock transit "There are firm indications that the agricultural industry is poised to seize new opportunities and we in the Ministry are confident that the impetus behind current expansion will be maintained. This suggests that the prospects for livestock carriers and agricultural hauliers are equally buoyant." This optimistic forecast was given by Mr J. N. Jotcham, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, when he spoke on the future of animal transport by road.

Mr Jotcham said that Britain's entry into the Common Market would in essence mean freer movement of goods and, despite any restrictive regulations, the transport industry was assured of a thriving future.

With EEC entry would come increased activity in the field of interstate livestock transportation — and the increased risk of infection. Here, said Mr Jotcham, the road haulier and livestock contractor had a major part to play in disease control. Animals which had originated from highquality, disease-free stock and which might have been reared in extremely sterile conditions, would be more susceptible to disease. He said that, although not frequently reported, there had been instances where disease had resulted from the shortcomings of the haulier. In the recent swine vesicular epidemic 19 livestock transport vehicles had been found to be carrying infection.

It was up to the haulier to ensure that after each consignment of livestock had been delivered his vehicle was properly washed and disinfected and he should impress this rule on his drivers. It was obviously in the interests of the haulier, Mr Jotcham said, to ensure that any livestock carried arrived in good condition. "If they can't ensure this they will soon• be out of business," he added.

From the floor, Mr F. Garood (F. G. Garood Transport Ltd, East Midland area) pointed out that it was not known whether any of the 19 vehicles found to be contaminated during the swine vesicular epidemic had belonged to any member of the Association.

Also concerned about disease control, Mr S. Harvey (Harvey Bros. (Transport) Ltd, East Midland area) claimed that at certain abattoirs the only washing-out facility was a hosepipe.

Another topic which concerned delegates was the number of pigs found to be dead — or which died shortly after arrival at their destination. Mr Harvey said that although it was generally believed by hauliers that the pigs had usually died of heart failure, more often than not the cost of the dead animal was deducted from the haulier's charge. On several occasions when this had happened he had asked for an autopsy to be carried out at the abattoir but had never been given a satisfactory explanation as to the cause of death. It was usually claimed, even when an autopsy had taken place, that the animal had died of suffocation — thereby putting the onus on the haulier.

Mr Jotcham replied that there wa very little scientific data available on the behaviour and welfare of animals in transit. If there was ever an opportunity to obtain information on the problem the Ministry would do so.

Fit axle-weighers

As legislation regarding axle weights stands at the moment, agricultural hauliers might be well advised to fit some type of axle weighing equipment to their vehicles. This was the advice given by Mr Peter Hicks, of the Department of the Environment, when he addressed delegates on enforcement. Mr Hicks said that although such equipment was not 100 per cent accurate it did give readings within about two per .cent of the actual axle weight.

The present regulations made operation difficult for the haulier, particularly the agricultural haulier, as usually these operators were working in areas where there were very few weighbridges and those that existed were usually situated at delivery points.

On EEC vehicle weights and dimensions; he stated that a 10-ton axle was the maximum which could be allowed in Britain as any increase could lead to damage to roads and bridges. It had been suggested that £200m would be required to strengthen roads and bridges to the point where they could take heavier vehicles. It had also been calculated that the cost to Britain from overloaded axles could already be in excess of £10m, with a return on this figure from overloading convictions in the region of only one per cent.

Mr Hicks then went on to say that, starting next year, about 100 new weighbridges, many of them capable of axle weighing, would be installed over the next three years. Although there were some 4,000 weighbridges in Britain at present, fewer than 300 of these could be used for enforcement purposes. He explained that many vehicles were at present being used to carry types of loads for which they were not suitable. To estimate the axle weights on a two-axle rigid vehicle the driver would first have to work out the dead centre of gravity and in many cases this was being done incorrectly. However, said Mr Hicks, a new professionalism in loading was now beginning to materialize.

Mr Hicks was asked numerous questions, mainly regarding axle overloading and about unfair -competition brought about by concessions in the Construction and Use Regulations.

Mr G. W. Pell (G. W. Pell (Kirton) Ltd, East Midland area) said that when a trailer had failed its yearly test the haulier could sell it to a farmer who could immediately put it on the road as a farm tractor-trailer f unit, as such vehicles were exempt •from several regulations. This type of combination could be driven by a 17-year-old youth in possession of a driving licence, or for that matter by any driver who had failed his hgv test and then taken up employment with a farmer. These vehicles often used rebate& fuel, they cost less to tax and in many cases were dangerously overloaded.

Besides the unfair competition brought about by this type of practice there was also the danger element involved.

Mr Pell felt that in such a safety conscious country as Britain it was strange that the Government should allow such practices to continue.

On the question of overloading, most delegates were in full agreement that the stage had been reached where there existed an "absolute offence" — in that no defence could be made against an overloading conviction.

More often than not, it was said, it was the customer who loaded vehicles which were later found to be overloaded and it was the customer therefore who was really guilty of the offence. Mr Hicks replied that although this might be tilt case it was practically impossible to prow that a customer firm was guilty of "aiding and abetting" in an overloading offence But to bring prosecutions of this naturt was the only real deterrent, he added.