'Pay more attention to 'finance' warning
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HUGE shortcomings in the amount of attention and expertise applied to hauliers' finances were uncovered in Malta by RHA Insurance Services, the company launched 18 months ago by the RHA and Bain Dawes.
In a survey completed by two-thirds of the delegates to the conference, half said they have no proper provisions for retirement or capital transfer tax and half are worried about the loss of capital allowances.
RHAIS director Brian Johnson told CM he believes that half the hauliers did not realise that if their company went into liquidation, its creditors have no claim on the funds in the pension scheme.
"We realise they need far more advice than we anticipated at the outset," he said.
Philip Conacher, a Bain Dawes small business advisor attached to RHAIS, was in Malta for the week and saw a dozen hauliers privately to give tax advice, which is initially free of charge.
RHAIS presented its services in one of four syndicate sessions, aimed at brief discussion of topics in small groups. "Your will from the CTT point of view is very important. It determines how much tax changes hands and when," said Mr Conacher.
A personal pension fund can be a shelter from corporation tax. And the fund can lend back money to the business, he said.
Many hauliers fail to make the best of their money and end up paying more tax than they need to, he said. This is partly because accountants and lawyers often take a narrower approach than a financial consultant.
In advising a haulier, RHAIS works with his accountant so that it knows the information the haulier is giving is accurate and so that the haulier has more confidence in its recommendations, Mr Conacher said.
A policy for strike insurance was launched by RHAIS at the syndicate sessions last week. The unique policy means that a haulier will be able to insure for loss of profit due to a strike at a customer's premises, or due to a major fire at the customer's site.
Mr Johnson said the cover would be more expensive for dock hauliers than most other sites. The policy is the latest -addition to a brokerage which the RHA says is proving popular with its members. Alan Gidley, district manager in the south East, said that 25 per cent of his members are using RHAIS and so far only one has failed to renew his policy.
"There is absolutely no question whatsoever of Bain Dawes pulling out of RHAIS," said Mr Johnson.
Drivers' hours formed the basis of a syndicate session in which Martin Albu, head of road freight policy at the Department of Transport, could get a feel for hauliers' views. He confessed at the start that after three years in the job he still does not pretend to understand the regulations fully.
Mr Albu explained the latest position in the EEC hours review. A decision had been hoped for by the Council of Ministers this December, but this is now very unlikely.
There is no chance of getting a 10-hour day, although he realises that this is what British operators want. However, serious consideration could be given to getting 10 hours two or three times a week.
Mr Albu wanted reaction to a proposal that the daily rest period — to be 11 or 12 hours, not yet fixed — could be split, with one period not less than eight hours. "For example, a driver could stop for an evening meal and then drive on to rest overnight. Delegates saw advantages in such a split rest system.
There is some discussion in the EEC on whether the break period should be 30 minutes, one hour, or a compromise 45 minutes. RHA members were quite firm that 30 minutes is quite adequate. Exemptions from drivers' hours regulations should be cut back, Mr Albu was told. Jack Mather, the National Freight Consortium's chief executive, complained bitterly about the unfair advantage given to the Post Office. "We are talking about drivers and not vehicles," he said.
On-board axle weighers were discussed against a background that 80 per cent of all prosecutions of RHA members in the South East are for overloading, and the fact that members at the last RHA conference said they wanted them to be available from manufacturers.
"We as a vehicle manufacturer had virtually opted out," said Peter Capon, Leyland Trucks' product development director. "We have totally changed."
Leyland is now actively helping specialist suppliers to research on-board weighing. The criteria set are that the system should cost £500 or less, be accurate to within two' per cent, be easy to use, give an immediate read-out under all conditions, be robust and give good performance on uneven ground.
The weigher would be useful to operators with varied payloads up to the legal maximum and bulk carriers not limited by volume. Several systems are available now, but none is fully acceptable on cost, accuracy and durability, said Mr Capon.
Those that measure suspension deflection are cheap, simple, but very inaccurate — usel-ess, in fact. Portable systems are inconvenient and useless on poor ground. Load cells are very good but cost at least £2,000. "The people selling them often do not know what they are talking about," added syndicate chairman Tom Llewellyn of Econofreight.
Martin Albu commented that if a suitable device was de veloped the DTp might reexamine the RHA's request for a defence of due diligence against overloading prosecutions.
Road safety was the subject of a syndicate presentation by Mike Read of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, who argued that driver training could save on operating costs and insurance claims.
There was broad agreement that automatic transmission is an aid to safety, but that the equipment is too expensive and uses more fuel than conven tional transmissions. Poor road surfaces and unnecessary use of fog lights both cause accidents, hauliers said.
Syndicate chairman Barry Hempsall endorsed the use of bonus systems for safe driving, but said that it was psychologically better to give the driver points for accident-free driving than to deduct points.
In reply to Alan Gidley, Mr Read said that driver assessment is not at present approved for grant by the Road Transport Industry Training Board, but that he hoped approval would be forthcoming soon.