Leicester tipper operators' ultimatum
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DISSATISFACTION with rates paid to tipper operators by 10 local granite quarries has led members of the Leicester Tipper Operators' Group to deliver an ultimatum to the quarry owners, threatening a withdrawal of vehicles from June 1, unless higher rates are agreed.
It is understood that only two quarries have acknowledged the letter and the group, which comprises some 120 operators of 500 tippers, is meeting at Coalville on May 24 to concert its actions in the critical weeks ahead.
One of the operators concerned tells me that an occasional load to a new destination may be paid a reasonable rate but that probably 80 per cent of runs are for bulk orders where rate-reductions of up to 20 per cent are applied.
Loads to Marham, Norfolk, are carried for 19s. per ton—against 22s. for the same run last year. The rate for Leicester to Ipswich, a 260-mile round trip, is said to be 22s. per ton. My informant said his rates have increased by under 5 per cent in the past four years, and rates offering a return as low as 11+d. per mile are not unknown.
There seems to be a close parallel in this latest manifestation of the tipper-rate war with the still unresolved Mendip rates battle. I gather that some liaison has been established with the Mendip operators, and with Mr. J. F. Cox, the Western area secretary of the RHA, whose spade work so clearly highlighted the problem before Mr. J. R. C. Samuel-Gibbon, the Western LA. Mr. Bill Morton, East Midland RHA secretary, is an interested observer.
As some of the group members are currently involved with the portmanteau bids of operators seeking to carry tippable materials in England and Wales for A. Fletcher and Co. Ltd., of Ibstock, there is little doubt that the East Midland LA will also watch the rates battle now joined with distinct interest.
JD.