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Bricks Help Build a essful Haulage Business

21st April 1944, Page 26
21st April 1944
Page 26
Page 27
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Page 26, 21st April 1944 — Bricks Help Build a essful Haulage Business
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Haw a Haulage Concern, Founded in a Small Way in a Semi-rural District, Established Itself as the Result of Organized Handling of Brick Traffic

TO be responsible for the conveyance of 103,000,000 bricks from Bedfordshire into London, over a period of 44 years, is no small thing: it means the haulage of nearly 250,000. bricks per week—more than an average of 1,000 tons—over a lead mileage varying from 30 to 40.

It might well be considered that this was enough in itself for one concern, but within that period, or, to be more precise, from the beginning of 1941 to date, 3,849 truck-loads of timber and plywood have been cleared from local stations in approximately a 15-miles radius (one or two of the stations are mote remote), distributed to various dispersal dumps and, as to the bulk of it, brought from those dumps, and delivered to destination. That is approximately 250 tons to 260 tons per week.

Moreover, during the heaviest period of the blitz on London—within the same 44 years—the timber from London docks was cleared by road and dispersed to these dumps.

Nevertheless, during that hectic time, the normal business of commercial haulage, to which reference will be made later, was maintained, not, perhaps, at its normal peak, but to such a degree as to keep all the old customers satisfied. They did not need to be told that " there was a war on," because, so far as their haulage requirements Were concerned, they did not feel its effect as A. Saunders and Son (Harpenden), Ltd., saved them that worry.

The concera which shouldered this respon4ibility commenced business in a small way. It began at a period in the history of England when an Englishman, thinking he had a flair for road haulage, had liberty to enter that business, with freedom to follow his vocation and, provided he was diligent and dealt faithfully with those whom he carried, or whose goods he conveyed, was allowed to develop his busi'ness in proportion to his industry and enterprise.

The year was 1896 and the man a Mr. Abraham Saunders, an exemployee of a railway company. Ile had little more to back him than his enterprise and initiative: £20 and Some .pigs comprised his worldly goods. He also had seven children, but they Were no.t of an age to be regarded as business assets. Certainly they would not have been considered as having a representative value in a part-exchange deal,

By selling his pigs, using his £20 of capital, and borrowing from a friend, Mr. Saunders bought a coal round from a man who was retiring from active business. In that war he founded the concern of A. Saunders and Son (Harpenden), Ltd., the company which undertook aria, with the aid. of the Saunders Co-operative Group of Hauliers, performed the tasks already enumerated.

From these small beginnings, from scratch as it were, the traffic has grown —slowly at first, but accelerating more rapidly during the past six years. The company now operates 23 motor vehicles and 10 horses, with the Usual horse-drawn trollies and carts. The fleet is a mixed one, comprising Fodens and E.R.F.s of capacities from 6 tons to 15 tons, all, of course, with oil engines. The remainder, which are petrol-engined vehicles, is comprised of Bedfords, Albioris and Morris-Commercials.

Business was commenced in Gravels Road, Harpenden, which was' the headquarters of the company until 1910, when more commodious premises were taken in Southdown Road, where the concern is now located. In 1925, the first storey of the present furniture repository was built, and in 1937 the yard was covered in so as to serve as a garage and, at the same time, stables were built at the rear of the premises. In 1938 the repository was rebuilt, another storey added, which more than doubled the capacity, and a substantial goods lift installed. This repository is centrally heated and has a capacity for 150 loads of furniture of 1,000 cubic ft. each.

Furniture removing has always formed a substantial part of the com• pany's business, and, with headquarters in a rura4 district, it is only natural that, whilst much of the work comprises substantial loads, there are many removals that are at the opposite end of the scale. The company's motto, in this respect, is that no load is too large and none too small. On more than one occasion the loads have been so small that two removals have been carried out by one van at the same time The present governing director is Mr, D. .Saunders, who took over from his father in 1921. He continued to control the business successfully through the rather difficult pericid which ensued • until 1936, when a private limited corn. pany was formed, the directors beirq Mr. and Mrs I) Saunders and Mr E. B. Howes. A recent development was the purchase of the business of Bolt and Co., a local concern owning six' vehicles, hut which had pre-war licences for 12 machines. This purchase brought the company's fleet up to its present numerical strength. .

Mr. Howes soon made his presence felt, largely due to the fact that he was able to influence traffic in strawboard from Holland and wood pulp from Sweden. In those days the company was interested in brick haulage, which, as everyone is aware, is largely oneway traffic carried at rates which, to put it mildly, did not show any sort of substantial profit.

Mr. Howes quickly appreciated the fact that, if the business was to be made to prosper, return loads must he obtained, and as the traffic was mostly into the London area the haulage of this strawboard and wood pulp outward from London was a fairly obvious solution of the problem of making brick haulage profitable.

In this connection it is important to note that, at about this time,. Mr C. W. Culley was transferred from th,i .,taff of G.H. Stephenson and Co., an Brandranis Wharf, to A. Saunders and Son (Harpenden), Ltd. The sig,nifieance of this transfer. which was

carried out with the full agreement of Mr. Culley's previous employers, is that a considerable bulk of the strawboard and wood-pulp traffic reaches London at. • Brandranis Wharf and .passes through the hands of G. H. Stephenson and Co.

This traffic, coming, as it did, from Holland and Sweden, is, of course, unobtainable now. Much of the straw._ board used to arrive by Dutch motor ship: and a boat-load would be . from 300-400 tons, which, as was usually stipulated, had to be cleared in two days. It was the need for extra carrying capacity, coupled with a desire to reduce rate-cutting, that gave Mr. Howes the idea of the formation of .a co-operative group of hauliers. This was effected in 1937, and was described in some detail in this journal in the issue dated November 6, 1942. Mr. Howes believes this to be the pioneer co-operative group of hauliers.

Only the briefest details of this enterprise need be mentioned here. The Local hauliers got together, forming a group, each member of Which agreed to share with the others any surphis.traffic which he might have, allotting it to those who were, at the time, short of traffic. Means were devised 'whereby those who were short of traffic could quickly. Communicate with other memhers and soon discover whether, and where, traffic was to be had. .

Steady Growth of Group Movement The group started in August, 1937. By the end of that year there were six members, in January, 1938, there were eight, by June, 1938, there were 13, and by August, 1938, the figure had risen to IS. By the end of the year the membership had risen to 18, and by August, 1939, it had grown to 28, whilst to-day it stands at 43.

The influence of the group is widespread: it has members in Dartford, Royston, Poplar and other, parts of London, Welwyn. Orpington, St. Neots, Sidcup, St. Albans and Rickmansworth, as well as Luton and Harpenden.

It will be apparent that, whereas, admittedly, A. Saunders and Son (Harpenden), Ltd., shouldered the responsibility for the removal of the enormous quantities of timber and bricks which were mentioned at the beginning of this article, the support of the members of the group counted not a little in the execution of the work. Indeed, at the time of maximum pressure, that is when the clearance of timber from the London I)ocks was carried out, the 600 vehicles belonging to a large C-licensed operator were, on the authority of the late Sir Haviland Miley, Eastern Regional Transport Commissioner, included in the group in order that the work should be done as quickly as possible.

The group still assists, as part of the general co-operative scheme, in the movement of timber and plywood between the dispersal points and the following railway stations:=-L.M.S. at Redbourn arid Luton; L.M.S. and L,N.E.R. at St. Albans and Harpenden; and L.N.E.R. at Wheatharrip

stead, • Hertfoid, Ayot St, Lawrence, Leighton Buzzard, •Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley and Stevenage. At peak periods, similar work is actually carried out at centres as far away as Richmond and Kingston.

Sosoon as a boat-load of .tirnber arrives, it is despatched by rail to these various stations. A. Saunders and Son (Harpenden), Ltd., is advised, and lorries from the group meet the trains, unload the trucks of timber, and carry it to the various dispersal points.

All this timber haulage is carried out by vehicles belonging to members of the group which do not, of course, to-day, except in special circumstances. include the large number of vehicles of the C-licensed operator already mentioned. Most of the outward haulage from the dispersal points is also effected by the same means.

Not all the timber clearance is effected from railhead. Sometimes, in case of emergency, direct cartage from the docks is carried out. On one occasion, a load of 360 tons of plywood was cleared from the docks in 4/ days. All the vehicles employed for this clearance took loads up to London, and no mileage, fuel or rubber was wasted.

The ability of the group to carry out work quickly is, in fact, a legacy of pre-war -days, ' when, as previously mentioned, similar'quick clearance was necessary in dealing with the strawboard and wood pulp. It was quite usual. to deliver strawboard, whichhas been unloaded at the docks in the morning, to various destinations in the Luton district on the same day. It has even happened that strawboard hasbeen brought from London to Luton early in the morning, and taken back again as complete cardboard boxes, by the same evening.

Interested in Many Kinds of Traffic The traffics mentioned come into the limelight, as it were, as indicating the ability of the company and the group to deal with large consignments in a short time in case' of an emergency. It must not be assumed that the company's activities, or those of the group, are limited or in any way confined to the conveyance of the ma,terials mentioned. The contrary is. the case.

As has been stated, Mr. Abraham Saunders commenced as a coal haulier, and it. is said that the present concern now carries, either directly or, indirectly, 90 per cent.. of the coal and coke in Harpenden. This, distribution of fuel, for domestic as well as industrial purposes, is mostly effected by means of horse-drawn vehicles.

Other traffics carried include sand and ballast, bricks, grain, fertilizers, timber (hard and soft), plywood, castings and forgings, chemicals (principally insecticides, fertilizers and the like), resin, potatoes (including seed potatoes), furniture (new and secondhand), cattle meal, oil cake, oil nuts, etc. Ministry of Supply traffic includes 'Tank components and spares, .general goods for rail, hollow building blocks, aluminium ingots, • agricultural tractors and road scrapers, cheese, rice, tomato puree, and sardines.

Of the traffic. carried, 70 to 80 per cent, is between the London docks and the districts surrounding Harpenden— uvula radius of from 30 'to 35 miles. It will interest those not acquainted with this traffic to know that a good deal of wheat is carried to the London Docks, from whence it is sent by barge to mills in London. At the same time, loads of imported meal are brought back from the docks to mills and places within a radius of 20 miles.

Provision is made for storage of all or any of the above traffics and, besides the furniture repository already mentioned, the company has many warehouses and storagedepots spread over an area within a 10-mile radius from Harpenden.

Mr. Howes is emphatic in stating that no haulage business can 'he successful, or can be run on sound economic lines, unless there be some efficient person in charge of maintenance and bodybuilding. In his opinion, if proper attention be not given to those departments of a haulier's business the cost of operation is likely to become so high as to make it difficult to earn profits at commercial rates. • Mr. -C.' W, Culley, acts as general manager, and is responsible for fleet of Vehicles as a whole. and the. allocation of vehicles for Specific work.

Rail Co-operation Has Been Cultivated

In view of the fact that so much of the business which the company does must be carried out in conjunction With the railways, it is -important to note that Mr. Howes's experience ia that co-operation with the various railways and their officials As' particularly easy. and he has happy relations with all Of them. He is in personal touch with the L.M.S. officials at Broad ,Street, also with the principal officials of the Ministry of Supply.

It is, of course, as is well known, the personal touch in road haulage which makes it such an efficient instrument -of commerce. That is .something which has always been emphasized in this journal, and it is rather striking to find-,that the same characteristic is proving useful in these diverse ways.

The concern claims that it takes the worry off the shoulders of its customers. As an indication of one way in which that object is'achieved, Mr. Howes. points °tit that, in the case of claims for damage or loss in transit which, incidentally, are very few, theSe are n:t once settled equitably with the customer ; there is thus no delay, such as frequently occurs when the customer must wait until the question of payment of the account for damages has been thrashed out with the insurance company. Pilferage in transit is, in Mr. frowes's experience, so negligible that he does not trouble to insure against that risk.

The fleet of vehicles is insured with . the Road Transport and General Insurance Co., .Ltd., for which Saunders and Son (Harpenaen), Ltd.. is agent.


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