1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232 
From profit to problems
Page 98
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Brian Lee's haulage firm was doing really well then his three biggest customers' problems suddenly became his problems 0 n23 March 1963 Ruby and the Romantics reached number 38 in the hit parade with the song Our Day Will Come. Not a lot of people know that. It wasn't a great song, and Ruby and the Romantics are now long forgotten— except by me it seems. For some reason I still hear the strains of that song when ever the future looks bleak.
In our industry it helps to have an anthem to rally the troops. even if the optimism is a little forced. But at the start of this year I actually thought our day might have come. in December, for the first time in years, we made a profit —and a handsome one!
On the strength of our sudden and unexpected profitability I had visions of the beach at Sidmouth in July rather than February.
Then "bang"came the second week in January. With two additional vehicles on the road, a new traffic man and a clerical assistant to support, our new-found profitability disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. In fact, our whole business seemed to grind to a halt. Our three biggest customers had unforeseen problems that impacted on us in a big way.
Headless chicken
What do you do when you have 10 drivers with five vehicles specifically built and programmed to operate a 15-mile round trip on a 24-hour cycle and no work? What do you do when a great chunk of your southbound traffic goes on hold for five weeks? What do you do when tipping times rise from 45 minutes to four or even five, hours? Well,to begin with, you sit there frozen like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights.Then, when you come to your senses, you tear about like a headless chicken trying to get the wheels turning again.
Yes, our day came and went.
I can only say I'm glad now that we've returned to the familiar pattern of working hard for love rather than money.At least it's a familiar routine that we can all work to. Last Friday I headed south to the Cotswolds. I telephoned ahead and heard that Birmingham was running clean and green. Not so, however. when I arrived at about 6.30pm.
A long tailback was gathering on the M5.An accident? No. Jordan on an open-top bus? No. A large abnormal load taking up two precious lanes of the crowded motorway? Yes.
The only way to keep the circulation flowing is by managing transport movements sensibly and sensitively. But some people just don't get it, do they? Large `convois exceptionels' have no place on motorways between five in the morning and eight at night. Monday to Saturday. Abnormal loads, surely, should move at abnormal times.
After our January panic thought !could relax.but there's always something to keep me on my toes.This time it was one of my drivers. He had to pick up a trailer from service and reload. On his arrival he discovered it was still loaded."Didn't you notice it was heavy and you needed lower gears leaving the depot and climbing hills?" 1 asked. "What about that the big hill by Asda?"
"Well, I thought it was pushing a bit," he admitted.
Well,'our day will come' again. I suppose. But I have to say I'm in no hurry.