EDITORIAIL
Page 19
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Room for one more?
Either by accident or design, more hauliers . . . each year are diversifying into warehousing.
This is hardly surprising, since the two activities are so closely linked in the distribution chair,. N8'ith such a close link, their coordination is essential and surely the most satisfactory method of co-ordinating the activities would be through a warehousing functional group within the Road Haulage Association. Certainly, warehousing and distribution are activities in which many hauliers are becoming interested as a hedge against the repeated recessions in freight haulage.
The R HA has 13 functional groups covering almost every activity in which its 17,000 members are engaged from tipping, international haulage and express carriage with hundreds of members at one end of the scale to carax an transport and waste disposal with 40 members at the other end. Why , then, has warehousing been ignored when there are many hundreds of RHA men who Jill the dual role of warehouseman and haulier? Indeed, of the 450 members of the National Association of IA arehouse Keepers, it is estimated that 30 per cent are also members of the RHA.
Tenuous links exist between the two Associations through these common members, who include the NF(', Heatons, Federated Transport, Premier Transport, and many others, all of whom no doubt keep the RHA in touch with the warehousing world, but surely a more effective link is desirable. Certainly, there are those both inside and outside N AWK who feel that this is an activity in which the RHA should be involved, and it is perhaps surprising that the Association has apparently no. er intY ited NAWK with its read made secretariat to consider coming under its wing.
This is one aspect of RHA work which \Ir. John Wells, its recently appointed consultant, might well consider as part of his I) rief.