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Why the small haulier will survive
Page 83
Page 85
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By Ralph Cropper
Sc (Econ), BA, A M Inst T OAD transport is often picked out as one of the best examples of an industry of small business enter. e. The Road Haulage Association and its spokesmen
make a frequent point that the industry is primarily iposed of small operators. The official Ministry of nsport statistics appear to confirm this contention, even Jgh over the years there has been a tendency for the rage size businesses to increase and for the number of ly small operators to start to decline.
, big bomb has recently been dropped into this realm he small haulier. The bomb I refer to occurs in the .)rt on road haulage rates issued by the National Board Prices and Incomes, under the chairmanship of Mr. 'trey Jones. This was the report that appeared to igate the RHA for its practice of making overall immendations for increases in rates, but really recog
s the pretty full justification for rates increases, resting hey did on outside increases in costs; this Board felt the negotiations for increases in rates must be dealt t directly between the hauliers and their customers, hough this represented any change from the system had gone on for many years.
as a problem
ut the bomb thrown out by the Aubrey Jones Report )unts to the condemnation of the small haulier. tie tot liked. He is a problem child requiring to be idated. These views are hidden away in paragraph 18, eh I think should be quoted in full, as follows: " We consider that the problem of the small haulier is best dealt with in other ways. First, we accept the view that some strengthening of the structure of the industry is needed and that this can best be brought about by some enlargement of units so that better use can be made of modern managerial techniques. We do not recommend any action from outside to this end; we merely note that as the generation which entered the road haulage industry after 1918 passes away the absorption of the small man into larger units seems likely to take place."
his paragraph seems to me to beg many questions. Is small haulier in the nature of being any problem at
He has been accepted for years as constituting the Jamental backbone of the industry. The fact is that has survived, in competition. The first point about .5, business enterprise is whether it produces something eh other members of the community desire and for eht they are prepared to pay. The small haulier has
able to sell his services and often make a good living; as shown his worth to the community by the simple that the community has been prepared to pay for t he has offered,
3 any problem of the small haulier is not primarily that worries the small haulier himself. He jogs along ompetition; in competition he was born and in corn
petition he will struggle his way through. If any problem exists, it must be other people who are bothered. In other words, it is a problem for the increasing number of larger firms in the industry, who dislike and fear the vigorous competition they receive from the smaller operator. Or a problem for the trade unions. Or a problem for other outside interests, such as administrators, governmental agencies, customers, and the like. .
In other industries where the very nature of the technical problems demands industry having huge concentrations of resources and power in very limited hands, this is probably inevitable. For example, one cannot have a blast furnace on a small scale; the nature of the industry determines that blast furnaces must be large and run by large organizations with plenty of capital and resources. Nor can large ships be built by a small firm. This is not an inherent characteristic of road transport. Indeed, road transport is rather built the other way, where very often one of the essential features of efficiency lies in the individual operation of the individual vehicle.
We have now arrived at the secret of the smallness in size of undertakings of road transport. Whenever it is possible to operate in this way, the one-man, one-vehicle system produces the highest form of efficiency. The operative who provides his own tools of trade ensures that full care is taken of those tools and works for them to be employed to the greatest advantage. The owner-driver strives and struggles to get the utmost output both from his own services and from his equipment.
Expansion brings snags
There have been many successful one-man businesses in road transport, where the owner is all the lime fully aware that his success depends upon his own successful exertions, coupled with the successful performance of his vehicle. The trouble usually arises when this successful one-man enterprise expands to two vehicles, or three or four or more. A family group in these cases provides a very strong organization, with different members of the family each driving a vehicle. The same high degree of efficiency can often be retained.
• When size further increases, it becomes unavoidable to have to rely upon servants as the drivers of the vehicles, and no longer the proprietors driving themselves. Inevitably, a lower degree of efficiency steps in. To some extent, this is offset by the proprietors devoting themselves to the techniques of management, and spending time in grappling with the problems often covered under the omnibus name of " overheads ".
As size still further increases, more and more managerial
CANADIAN Kenworth tractive unit was imported to the UK recently by York Trailer Co. Ltd. The Ins for importing such an expensive machine—as an rimental test bed, among other things--are many, but fact that it has been imported and loaned to The mercial Motor for impressions to be gained will en the haulage industry to the fact that five axles lot needed to operate at 32 tons g.c.w.
the Kenworth is not marketed in this country York that it will be able to utilize it for demonstrating r equipment without appearing to favour any :War vehicle maker. And, as York has a certain Int of inter-factory transport to undertake, the )any can, at the same time, utilize the tractive unit periment with its latest ideas for getting the maximum )ad on the leist number of axles,
ere is not a tractive unit currently produced in the which will allow the necessary outer axle spread to be ned whilst keeping within the C. and U. Regulations ding overall length and so allow a 32 tons g.c.w. to perated on four axles. The reason for this is the al bumper-bar to front-axle-centre dimension, which lost British-built tractive units is much greater than 9-5 in. of the Kenworth.
ere are, of course, other factors to take into consider
ation, and to get the correct axle loadings York has designed a wide-spread. tandem-axled semi-trailer. The wide-spread bogie enables the bogie centre-line to be moved back to a point 5 ft. 5 in. from the rear crossmember and the rear axle centre to 2 ft. I in. from the rear cross-member. This, together with the forward-set front axle of the tractive unit gives an outer-axle spread of 38 ft., which thus complies with the requirements of the C. and U. Regulations.
The necessary reduction of loading on the trailer kingpin is achieved by moving the leading axle of the bogie forward of the bogie centre-line by 3 ft. 5 in., whilst the extremely short cab measurement of 4 ft. 7 in. allows the otherwise negative kingpin position to be excluded and a positive position of 1 ft. from the headboard to be used.
It will be seen in the sketch on page 86 that this allows an overall platform length of 33 ft. 4 in. to be employed. To equalize the loading on the bogie axles, the standard York Teamster non-reactive system is used with the balance beam in two separate halves connected by a stout link in tension.