All-rounder
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with special skills
by John Darker
IN THE southern half of the country there can be few professional distribution companies operating more than 450 vehicles and disposing of over one million square feet of warehousing. The business of Greenwoods Transport Ltd is in fact nationwide, though its principal distribution depots are in the South.
Greenwoods, now part of the hugely wealthy Gold Fields Group, is a long-established name in road transport, as competitor firms know very well. Its managing director, Mr P. F. (Paddy) Bennett, is himself one of the steadily diminishing band of veteran road hauliers perfectly capable of getting in the cab and delivering a load. His son, P. J. Bennett, runs the specialist magazine distribution •activity at the company's headquarters at Hoddesdon, and a warehouse at Warboys. An associated company, Greenwood Commercial Vehicles, has a splendid, large, repair and maintenance workshop at Hoddesdon designed by the resident engineering director, Mr E. R. Stimson.
Challenge
Mr Bennett, senior, has no doubt at all that the greatest challenge posed to road transport today is centred on the need for high calibre management. Perhaps it is not surprising that he takes this view since—as a small part of the gigantic Gold Fields enterprise —his company has access to the corporate management skills of the parent company.
I suspect that Paddy Bennett's experience before he was able to "plug into" the managerial brains of such a prestigious company would have confirmed his view as to the key role of manage ment. Certainly, he left me in no doubt that he demands high performance from his executives. "All we have to offer as road transport contractors is service. I tell my chaps that they cannot afford to be complacent or to ignore the competition of smaller firms."
The magazine distribution activities of Greenwoods arose largely through the acquisition of Home Counties Transport some years ago. Today, the company serves more than 30 major publishers and delivers to some 400 wholesalers. It does a great deal of work for the International Publishing Corboration. With 28 years experience of a highly specialist and exacting trade it is likely that the company has forgotten more about the business of magazine distribution than most likely competitors can ever know, for it reckons to provide a 48-hour service countrywide, from Aberdeen to Penzance. Some of the journals are collected from printers and others are delivered in to the Hoddesdon or other depots. The journals are sometimes delivered to wholesalers the day before publication; this helps to spread what would otherwise be a heavily concentrated traffic load. Most publishers seek Thursday or Friday publication.
The original introduction to this work came .when Paddy Bennett was asked by George Newnes, the publishers, to move a load of "books," ex the Home Counties Transport yard, for delivery to Glasgow the next day. The customer— when he realised that the journals had been detained for three or four days before Paddy Bennett began the job—was impressed with the service given. So began an association which was effectively exploited and led to ever more publishing houses becoming customers.
The marrying up of capacity loads of journals from different printers and their prompt delivery to a rigid schedule in defined areas called originally, and still calls, for almost clockwork precision. The quantities dispatched from printers can vary from two or three journals to many thousands. The goods are bundled for convenience in handling and an early " wheeze" led to the "absence," if desired of any labelling of the four-quire • bundles. The labelling of the odd extra copies was sufficient for the astute Paddy Bennett, since experienced drivers could easily tell the titles and destination of the complete consignments. Palletization is used where possible, but it is limited by the absence of mechanical handling equipment at wholesalers.
The precise division of functions between the haulage company and the publishers' staffs was agreed at the outset, and is strictly adhered to. Thus have labour relations disputes over demarcation been avoided.
Newsagents are free to use any wholesaler and this presents problems to those responsible for distribution. Obviously, it is not possible to deliver consignments simultaneously throughout the country or in a given district, but efforts are made to deliver goods to towns such as Luton and St Albans at broadly the same time. If this were not planned a newsagent in the area could change his wholesaler if by doing so he could get his supplies earlier, and hence obtain a marked competitive advantage.
Distribution contractors have to learn to live with peaks and troughs. As well as longestablished publications (like CM !) the publishing trade is involved with journals that start off like a comet and end like a lead balloon ! Part works are especially prone to slump after a few weeks of publication. All this involves Greenwoods in the closest possible liaison with circulation managers and directors. Flexibflity and the capacity to make last-minute changes in the make-up of loads are crucial factors. Printing costs today prevent extra copies being produced as a reserve, should consignments get lost.
Service standards
The more exacting the service standards demanded by customers, the higher the transport charges necessary. Greenwoods, staking everything on service, reckon to have a vehicle margin of 25 per cent, which includes a maintenance margin of up to 10 per cent. No haulage company in these circumstances could compete on rates withfirms operating a bare minimum of vehicles, and no reserve margin. Not surprisingly, Paddy Bennett expresses strong views on " villains " who cut rates and those who pay lip service to legal operation yet operate illegally.
Greenwoods, on periodical distribution, have used Servis recorders since 1959. Breaches of hours and records laws had threatened the licence of the company. Drivers and their union (TGWU) were told bluntly that Servis recorders had to go in if the business was to continue. The recorders do not record speed, but it is not difficult to detect when a vehicle has been over-driven. The recorders are not used to cut drivers' pay ; they are paid on mileage and number of drops, and take home pay averages £70 a week. A large prove that the company is not an unreasonable employer.
I was surprised to learn that —apart from specific contracthire contracts — Greenwoods have no contracts with customers for whom periodicals are carried. It is a purely goodwill business. Paddy Bennett insists that long-term contracts encourage traffic staff to be apathetic. Without contracts, staff must keep on their toes to provide the best possible service standards.
The commercial vehicle agencies held by Greenwoods' associated companies (Greenwoods Commercial Vehicles Ltd and Warrington Commercial Vehicles Ltd) have Foden and DAF agencies, but the company operates other make:: if depot managers can make out a good case for doing so. courses : the fleet includes Ford, AEC, Leyland and Scammell.
How did Greenwoods come to be part of the Gold Fields enterprise ? It began with the acquisition of Greenwoods St Ives, followed by that of Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation. These two companies were merged for administrative convenience and a later acquisition brought the Amey Roadstone Group into the Gold Fields Group. Greenwoods is now responsible to the Amey Group.
Merged
Amey had in 1968 acquired Victory Transport, a small Southampton company formed in 1933 who had emerged from nationalisation as a distributor of goods over a limited mileage from its warehouse. Between 1968 and 1972 Victory, jointly with Miley Transport Ltd, served the whole of the South and the West. On the acquis:'Zion of the Amey Group by Consolidated Gold Fields, the two transport companies ,v3re mervd with Greenwoods Transport Ltd, an existing subsidiary.
Paddy Bennett was asked to look into the operations of the Amey and Victory offshoots of the much larger Amey aggregate:: interests. He concluded that an injection of capital would help the morale of all concerned, and this was for thcom:ng. The resulting merging of a number of companies into Greenwoods Transport has produced a well diversified company which will • undoubtedly make a big impact as its management strength is developed.
I was interested to learn, during a visit to the former Victory Transport complex at Rownhams, near Southampton, that the company have a clear idea of the distinction between " smalls " and the work of a professional distribution contractor. A smalls transport company may inject goods from stock into an existing smalls network. Greenwoods take goods, generally in bulk, from manufacturers, and deliver consignments in accordance With orders accompanying the goods or received by post. The unlabelled packs are identified from customers' documentation and deliveries may be to corner shops, hotels or a whole variety of outlets.
The Rownhams depot delivery area covers a radius of 60 to 70 miles—broadly from Brighton to Lyme Regis on the South Coast and northwards to A4. Every day's work is planned in detail and normally the next day's vehicle loads are planned by 2pm the previous day, though some last minute changes can be slotted in.
Delivery frequencies for customers can vary from four or five calls a week to once a fortnight. Vehicles vary in capacity from 16.8cum to 56cum (600cuft to 2000cuft). An average van could undertake 15 drops a day.
At Rownhams there is also a general haulage activity, with its own traffic office, operating 18 vehicles. There are 29 manned distribution vehicles. Time factors prevent the two activities being integrated in an intimate way, but each department helps the other where practicable. Backloading is undertaken for other Greenwoods depots.
Mr H. J. (John) Baker, Greenwoods director at Rownhams, stressed the capacity of the company to deliver in the less densely populated areas— an absurdly costly exercise if a national manufacturer tries to do this on his own. Some Greenwoods drivers are based on the towns they serve with detailed specialist knowledge. From Bournemouth, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, local drivers come to Rownhams to load up. Island traffic takes up the work of two vehicles, and these are supplemented as necessary. Naturally, a surcharge is called for to cover the water transit element to the Isle of Wight and the fact that on the mainland a vehicle can be used twice a day.
Different approach
In an attractive environmental area, not too far from expensive homes, the Rownhams depot management has to tread warily to avoid undue noise. Efforts are made to minimise operations between lOpm and 6am.
Although Mr Baker stresses the fundamentally different approach of distribution as opposed to general haulage traffic operators, one tending to be methodical and careful while the other must be capable of quick decision and robust enough to handle the rough and tumble situations in general haulage, the general haulage manager at Rownhams transferred from distribution, and has been very successful. It just shows that there are exceptions to every generalisation.
Mr Baker obviously understands the distribution problem of various sized companies needing to serve wide areas of population. He comprehends the problem from the standpoint of manufacturers and of the specialist distribution companies serving them. From the latter standpoint, he realises that Greenwoods could not sensibly make their vehicles or warehousing areas too specialised. The distribution contractor must march in step with the customer firms, on such matters as 'metrication. The clear trend towards metrication does not mean, that the transport company should make the pace. Rownhams traffic is half metricated already and staff could cope with any further changes called for.
There is no dogmatism in Mr Baker's views on vehicle replacement. An AEC sixwheeler given a factory rebuild in 1947 was only dis posed of in 1965. Greenwoods at Rownhams would think a 32-tonner should last for seven or eight years, but if major repairs were indicated such a vehicle would go out sooner.