Is This YOU?
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asks E. H. B. Palmer, O.B.E.
—Who Commiserates with the Average Industrial Transport Manager on His Unhappy Lot But Does He Like His Daily Headache ?
HIS role in life is whipping boy for all the other departments. His occupational disease is a daily headache. He thinks in terms of miles per gallon and of cost per ton. He is the transport manager of any large industrial or trading concern.
Whatever may go wrong, anywhere, assuredly will it be traced to him and his department. He is, in fact. a " natural " for carrying back the can.
Visitations are the curse of his life. As a rule, they are made from above. Sometimes these deputations return to their lair none the wiser, hut this does not discourage them from adhering to their own theories as to how things should be done.
Heavy Brass
Occasionally there will be heavy brass in the form of a director with a bee in his bonnet or an eye on the chair. His way is to ignbre the man in charge because he wants to see things for himself. He dislikes being shown round.
Next come the ferrets, the accountants hungry for a victim and a pat on the back. You may be sure that, whether or not there is anything amiss, they will return to their desks with a bone to worry. It is their job and, if they neglect to provide sustenance for internal audit, it may be just too bad. Like little fleas, they feed on the errors of lesser fleas, for no transport manager or his department can ever hope to be above reproach.
Flotsam and Jetsam
Invariably is the transport department regarded as a necessary evil and unnecessary expense. Invariably are its premises considered a logical dump for the flotsam and jetsam from elsewhere. Likewise, whilst the other departments are not encouraged to shelve their responsibilities, in some way they manage to convey the impression that the transport department is partly to blame.
Such pinpricks are not, however, the greatest pain which the transport executive has to bear. From a high level comes the ever-recurring criticism of costs, and rebutting
evidence that there has always been value for money is not easy to establish.
As a rule, the limelight is switched on either preceding or following the annual audit. Well in the spotlight the family goat. Someone may be detached from the pundits above to see just what may be happening below, and why.
Should his visit be brief, so will be his report—and we all breathe again. Should his visit be prolonged, which heaven forbid, this does not mean that he is any the wiser, he is chasing a clue in the hope that it may lead to a conviction.
These theorists sometimes defeat their own ends. One, for example, sought to introduce a little streamlining. He picked up an unstrapped carton, the contents of which fell through the bottom. No comic in "Workers' Playtime" has given greater joy.
Too often, then, the transport manager is between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one side are the theorists who have the ear of the board. On the other will be the various departments depending on collection or delivery. The common objective appears to be to discover what is wrong but never what is right.
To maintain the goodwill of his company and keep faith with their commitments, the transport manager may have to send a man to do a boy's work, so to speak. Some of
the things he has to do would earn him dismissal by any professional haulier. Many times has he to cover up for someone else, and many times has he to disregard the economics of his own department so that those of others may not be disturbed.
The most persistent critic of the transport executive is unlikely to change jobs with him for a hat-full of golden guineas, and yet the average transport manager is happy at his work. In a less vulnerable position he would not feel at home. Without that daily headache he would be looking around for something gravely amiss.
A Little Credit
Sometimes it is admitted that the overall view is not so bad. Raw material is arriving as and when required. Output is working according to plan_ If the business of in and out is costing a little more than last year, those who are wise will find compensation in the maintenance of goodwill and a place in the market. Likewise, a little credit may be spared for the man without whose efforts this might not have been possible.
Sometimes it has • occurred to a transport manager that he should claim some set-off against his costs for the publicity provided by his vehicles. Next time he is in trouble, let him submit this theory—just for the fun of it.
The appreciation of his operational cost is considerable, but his appreciation of values is greater and, being wise in his generation, he acts accordingly.
Absorb the Indigestible
Possibly, in this respect, the future may be easier. Possibly, as the professional carrier gets into his stride again, some uneconomical jobs may be passed on to him. The professional can often absorb to advantage much which is indigestible for the private operator.
This brings to mind the slogan of an enterprising newcomer to the haulage industry. He based it on the initials of his trading name: "Let Ted Do It." This was an invitation boldly painted on the sides of his trucks, and many did so.
Graphical charts, analytical tables and a handful of multi-coloured flimsies to cover each consignment may be pure joy to the theorist, but to the man who has to get on with it they are a pain in the neck. Also, he may be carrying one or two veterans in the fleet at outlandish cost just because the board prefer to retain them as fictitious assets.