Delayed Action
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APPARENTLY it was -a genuine coincidence that on the same day the chairmen of British Road Services and of the Road Haulage Association (in a joint statement) and one of the leaders in the C licence field, Mr. E. G. Whitaker (in his presidential address to the Institute of Transport), should have drawn, attention to the waste of time and money represented by the stationary road vehicle. Mr. Whitaker's remarks on the subject were, of course, part of a general survey of transport, whereas the nationalized and independent hauliers had come together solely in order to. point out the need for quicker turnround.
It may seem odd at first sight that the trader rather than the hauliers laid stress on the benefits to be obtained from demurrage charges and, in fact, encouraged hauliers to levy them. On the other hand, one can understand that both B.R.S. and the individual haulier would approach the point with some delicacy, not wishing to attract the retort from the customer that he would take his business elsewhere if they insisted on making him pay for excessive waiting time. In fact, on Tuesday, when opening his Association's conference, the chairman of the R.H.A. went out of his way to reveal that hauliers were not responsible for putting the idea • of demurrage into the minds of the Rochdale . Committee.
AS Mr. Whitaker was one of the members of that Committee, their report may help to show what prompted his reiteration of their views-on demurrage. They pointed out, as hauliers will no doubt frequently be doing during their campaign, that trade and industry had ultimately to bear the cost of waiting time—which the haulier was at present spreading over all his customers without differentiation. It would be fairer, said the Committee, if the people responsible for delays had to pay for them; by this means they would have a direct incentive to mend their ways.
The company of which Mr. Whitaker is transport adviser, Unilever, Ltd., have excellent transport arrangements and do their best to overcome the difficulties of the haulier. They are entitled to a little resentment if they feel that, in spite of their efforts, they still have to pay for the negligence of other people. Perhaps in the last analysis the feeling is not justified. In such a highly competitive industry, it is hard to imagine that a haulier could often succeed in saddling one customer with costs incorred in respect of another. The'mere suspicion that this could happen, however, has an unsettling effect and may lead the good customer to wonder how long he is expected to subsidize the bad.
Demurrage, in any event, can solve the problem in only a certain number of cases. The haulier, has redress only from his customers, and he would hesitate to seek it where he thought there was a risk of losing the work. The customer is by no means always—perhaps not usually— to blame, particularly where he sends a vehicle to the docks. If the haulier wishes to claim in such circumstances he must give notice in advance, thus providing the opportunity for a rival to offer to do the work without strings attached.
The very strong hint in the Rochdale report, and in Mr. Whitaker's presidential address, should prompt the organizations representing hauliers to have another look at the question of demurrage. They are-bound to find complica
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tions—for these Seem to be inseparable from the problem of improving vehicle turnround, by whatever path one approaches it. Echoing every other committee of inquiry, working party and commission that has been called upon to probe into the docks and ports of Britain, one recurring theme of the Rochdale Committee was the multiplicity and confusion of interests that at every, turn lay between them and a simple solution. It was this same complex that sank, virtually without trace, the promising working party set up• a year or so ago to examine some of . the difficulties besetting the Port of London. Their one and only report said, in effect, that they were unable to issue a• report.
THE campaign to "turn that lorry round" will find the same diversity. This is acknowledged in the joint statement at its launching, which suggests that the target includes trade, industry and local authorities, and 'also architects . and planners, as well as drivers arid loading staff. The further the statement goes, the wider its implications, until it is near to suggesting that transport might well be the main -theme of National Productivity Year.
Support for this comes from an unexpected quarter, and again completely -independently. The New Statesman selects transport as the "most likely candidate" for the social problem that will dominate British political thinking in the next 10 years. It is considered as of almost equal importance to the planning of investment, taxation and incomes, and the suggestion is made that the Minister of Transport should rank second only to the Chancellor in the making of economic and iocial policy.
In concentrating attention upon quicker turnround, hauliers have chosen an aspect of their industry well calculated to illustrate its importance. As the joint statement puts it: "The production line of a business begins at the point where supplies of raw materials are collected and ends where the finished product is delivered. The drive for greater efficiency, economy and productivity must extend all along the line, and not concern itself merely with what happens inside the factory." By implication, this assertion brings in many diverse factors, including the siting of factories and shops, and their layout, the design of towns, the organization of a community, the versatility of the labour force, and the export drive.
ONE problem during the coming campaign will be to maintain the connection between the component parts. For this reason, it will be useful to have the straightforward slogan and symbol as permanent links. The symbol in particular is likely to turn up in all kinds of context, and not merely-on the vehicles, premises and documents of operators. Some interesting variations have already appeared this week on the menu card at the conference banquet of the R.H.A.
If it becomes well enough known, the symbol may easily be adopted by other bodies and by the Press for purposes beyond the scope of the campaign, and even in a sense opposed to It. One can imagine, for example, a. cartoon showing the Minister of Transport, halted on Highgate Hill with his cat and his bicycle, listening to the bells sounding "Turn that lorry round!" instead of "Turn again, Whittington! "