Quote of the week
Page 43
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
This week I was in — dare I say it? — a clearing house in London when the man at the desk phoned a haulage contractor and asked for a rate for a 20-ton unit load, one lift, one drop to Bradford for the following day. Without a moment's hestitation, the contractor quoted £68. The price was accepted. The clearing house man then phoned his customer and said he had fixed the haulage. He asked the customer: "What rate am I getting"? Again without any delay came back the answer: "I08 and no more". The clearing house accepted the rate.
How can haulage contractors complain so bitterly about middlemen, as they did at this year's R HA conference, when they can quote such stupid rates? There was no haggling during the negotiations, no beating down, in fact everything was fair square and above board. But I reckon I witnessed another haulage contractor taking his first step towards the bankruptcy court.