Help for the small haulier b,.,Frost
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AS an industry with a very high proportion of small operators, road haulage should be one of the biggest customers for the new Small Firms Information Service Centres. The Department of Trade opened the first of these last month; the Centre has a specific brief to advise on all aspects of business management and to provide a simple route to specialized help.
There is a network of Centres covering the country, and their addresses can be found at the end of this article.
I visited the London Centre at 65 Buckingham palace Road SW1, (Freephone 2079) in the role of the prospective owner-driver with no experience. The introductory information I was given is applicable to anyone who wants to set up his own business but it is worth repeating. First: read the Centre's booklet Starting out in business. This booklet sets out the rudiments of marketing, the major problems to be encountered and the sources of assistance available. If after having read this booklet and its accompanying "Check List" the prospective haulier's enthusiasm has not waned then the next step is to go along to the local centre and have a full discussion of the problems that are peculiar to the haulier.
The Centre will advise on ways of overcoming a local authority's hostility towards granting planning permission to the haulier who has found a yard and wants to convert it into a transport base. As an aspiring applicant I was given a detailed run-down by the London Centre on the operators' licensing procedure and told that application forms could be obtained from any traffic area office, the addresses being in the local telephone directory. I was told that I had to apply at least nine weeks before the day I wanted the licence to come into force. The usual period of a licence's validity is five years, but the Licensing Authority has the power to shorten or lengthen the currency of the licence.
The Centre told me that even if I were to hire a vehicle from a firm which said that it would be responsible for its maintenance I — as the man who paid the driver's wages --had to hold the licence.
Having helped you all it can, the Centre will then pass you on to those whose business it is to know the haulage world. First on the Centre's list was the transport desk at the Department of the Environment: 2 Marsham Street, London SW1 (phone 01-212 3434). The transport desk sent me a series of pamphlets ranging from the funda mentals such as The Heavy Goods Vehicle Drivers Licence — to the complexities of International Goods Vehicle Drivers' Hours.
A helpful man at the DoE's transport desk told me a fevv things about the 1968 Transport Act which he thought needed emphasizing not only to the newcomer but also to the "old hand". I was told that the LA's decision whether or not to grant a licence was dependent upon four main considerations. First, whether I was a fit person to hold a licence -which he explained to me. Secondly, did I possess satisfactory facilities for main taining my vehicles in a serviceable condition? Next, would [ensure that the law relating to drivers' hours would be complied with? And lastly — would I take steps to make sure that my vehicles were never overloaded') The transport desk also told me that the LA could demand information about my financial resources; and the last piece of information that the department offered was that if my licence was ever curtailed or revoked by the LA I had the right to appeal to the Transport Tribunal.
The Small Firms Centre had suggested that the local library was a very useful information source in its own right for instance, if I had trouble locating the civil servant with responsibility for the particular question that concerned me and my business then I could look him up in the Civil Service Year Book or the Imperial Calendar.
The Centres themselves have several information booklets for small businesses. All of them are required reading, but Raising finance for new enterprises is of particular interest.
The next Small Firms Information Centre suggestion that I followed up was to get in contact with the Road Transport Industry Training Board, Capitol House, Empire Way, Wembley (phone 01-902 8880). Three times I got over the hurdles of switchboard and secretaries; three times I made arrangements to see a man who could help me with the economics and mechanics of running a small haulage business; three times the appointments fell through.