Disperse the Chartered Fleet
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A Plea to the Ministry to be Bold Enough to Admit a Mistake and to Disperse the Chartered Fleet, Thus Rendering an Undoubted Service to the Nation in General and Road Transport in Particular ,
By
• T• •
TN the previous article on this subject I made a mistake. am not referring to the fact that there was an error in the total of tons in Schedule B, which appeared with that article; the total should have been 402 and not 302. That was a, typographical slip and a comparatively trivial matter.. I refer to the opening statement, in which I said : " The operation of the Chartered Fleet of vehicles, by the Ministry of War Transport, is doing one good thing for the industry, and one only It is providing facts which will serve as a basis for an absolutely unanswerable argument against natonalization of the industry."
This Ministerial interference in haulage operations has demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that the industry is after all—strange to relate—an efficient organization much more capable of minding its own business effectively than any Government department.
It should be recalled that the Chartered. Fleet was instituted because it was claimed iliat there was so much inefficiency in the industry. The purpose, we were informed, was to effect "co-ordination of effort to ensure more effective and efficient use of the cOuntrys road transport, bcpth vehicles ated personnel."
, The figures and information embodied in the previous article, and in this one, too, go to show that the industry's methods were and are far more efficient than Government control.
In the interval which has elapsed between the time I wrote the previous article and now, I have been interviewing leading operators, as well as smaller hauliers, and in what follows I summarize the impressions gained. I do not necessarily agree with the views expressed. I-have my own ideas on the subject which I propose to ventilate.
These views of operators, however, do most emphatically demonstrate that feeling throughout the industry is strongly against the continuance in operation of the Chartered Fleet on the grounds that it is inefficient and that it is wasting petrol, rubber and man-power.
Amount of Fuel Used Causes Alarm I should add, as a matter of considerable importance, that the Regional Transport Commissioners are, I have gathered, greatly perturbed at the amount of fuel which is being consumed by the Chartered Fleet, as compared with what would have been usell had the work which that fleet is, doing been left to ordinary commercial operators.
First of all let us consider the views of a member of a leading road-transport organization. He states that in the view of the members of that organization the Governs ment Road Haulage Scheme is not operating satisfactorily. Representations have been made to the head office of this Association and to local M.P.s. without any noticeable result being achieved. Apparently the department concerned refers complaints to the Ministry, the Ministry refers them to the Hauliers' Pool, which returns them to the Ministry, and nothing is done. At a recent general meeting of the hauliers in his area a resolution was passed that an immediate investigatlan should be made into the working of the Government Scheme, with particular regard to management and finance.
" Many of our members," he continues, "have had the experience of losing traffic which has been theirs for years and of seeing it passed to other operators, despite the definite promise given that the persons previously handling the traffic should retain it normally. Light tanning by vehicles of the Chartered Fleet is excessive and the lack of efficiency in management has considerably slowed down transport and made for wastage in every direction.
" As against this we are now faced with the policy of the Regional Transport Commissioners of transferring all .private traffic, over 50 miles, not coming within the Government scheme to the rail. I am at present seeking an appointment with the Commissioners to arrange for a deputation from my members to discuss this point, the importance of which is that it is an effort to cut down petrol consumption in one direction,. even at the expense of shuting up old-established businesses, whilst in the other this scheme is wasting thousands of 'gallons daily."
His inference is that, in the opinion of' these experienced hauliers, Government operation of transport is causing a tremendous waste of fuel.
The general view of operators appears to be that there is no good reason why the scheme should not have functioned if the Government had adhered to the original plan. The trouble and the inefficiency of operation have arisen because of the attempt to convert the Chartered Fleet, which was designed to be the national emergency leg of road transport, into a commercial trading business.
Reasons for Inefficient Operation
How this has come 'about may, to some extent, be appreciated by consideration of the formal instructions to fraffic movement officers on the procedure to be adopted in connection with acceptance of traffic. According to these instructions, traffic will normally be offered by Government Departments through their local representatives (Port Food Movement Officers; Transportation Officers; Ministry of Supply; Of c Transport R.A.S.C., etc.) and will comprise (a). Traffic which is a direct charge on the department concerned or
(b) Traffic of which the department arranges the movement, for which the actual consignor or consignee pays the charges.
In addition, traffic of a purely commercial nature may be offered either direct by consignees, or hauliers, or clearing houses.
It is the last paragraph which is the crui of the trouble. It makes it quite clear that commercial traffic, that secured from operators themselves or from clearing houses, may be considered as rightful traffic for chartered vehicles. It is from the operation of this particular clause of the instructions that so much inefficient operation has accrued, and blunders made which are detrimental to the national interest in gearal and those in the industry. in particular.
In effect, the main business of road-transport working is now subject to dual operation with all its complication, conflicting interests, and heavy additional expense: On' the one hand there is the Hauliers' National Traffic Pool with its area branches, and on the other, the Government Road Haulage Department with its various depots. The former is operated by a committee of practical operators; the latter by civil servants.
It should have been obvious from tge first, but is only now so clear, that civil servants, possessing no practical knowledge of road transport, and having vehicles of the Chartered Fleet thrust upon them for operation—with no work for the vehicles Ito do—would immediately attempt to justify the retention of the Chartered Fleet by encroaching upon the legitimate wokk of the industry. This was never understood by the industry to be intended.
A solution of the problem, according to many of these operators, is along the following lines.
In the first place, it is accepted that the Ministry of War Transport must have control. That, however, could still be maintained although the Chartered Fleet be dispersed, and it is seriously and very definitely suggested that it should be dispersed. It is then suggested that the Hauliers' National Traffic Pools should be brought into full operation to do the work which the Chartered Fleet is now doing, control being effected by the officers of the Regional Transport Commissioner in each area. • This plan, it is suggested, is logically sound. These four questions are asked:—
(a) In case of emergency, Who would take control over transport in a specific area?
(b) Who, in simlar circumstances, would • trol of the Defence Lines? be in con..
(c) Who is responsible for the allocation of petrol?
(d) Who is the direct representative of the Minister himself in any Region?
There is only one answer to these questions, that being the same for each. The Regional Transport Commissioner is the person responsible.
Putting the Scheme on a Sure Foundation In view of the foregoing, it is suggested that the following simple plan be adopted and put into effect at once :— (1) Full co-partnership between the Minister and the Advisory Committee of the Hauliers? National Traffic Pool.
(2) Full active operation by the Hauliers' National Traffic Pool on behalf of the industry in the areas, accepting Government traffic of all kinds, acting as the servant of the various Government departments in these areas and catering fully for their transport needs direct, under the liaison of the Regional Transport Commissioner, who would be the final arbiter in all matters in the Region.
(3) No vehicles to be engaged on a "time and line" basis, but' that the Government pay for only what is carried through the "Pool "—this would finally do' away with extravagance or costly workings.
(4) Transfer what meat vehicles are required to the Ministry of Food9 and make sure that only those are retained which are essential for meat distribution. If at any time those vehicles require work to be found—then let the owners apply to the area pool, like any other operator.
The Ministry would have at its call not only chartered vehicles as now, but the whole active weight of the industry at all times, which would be far more effective, and would, of necessity, cut out the dual abnormal working , costs.
Arising from the figures which were published in the 15revious article I have asked the operator concerned two questions. First, in relation to the figure for actual loads carried on each journey, as to whether that was the total amount carried by the vehicle, or whether it carried, in addition, other traffics which could be debited to other customers, whether Government or otherwise. The answer is that the figures stated show the gross load carried by the vehicle on each journey; no other traffic was conveyed. Secondly, if comparative figures for a smaller period of normal working could be prepared relating to that vehicle. The answer to that question is given in Table HI.
With regard to the excellent results which these figures show, the operator states that they are in no way exceptional, as similar results can be tabulated in respect of other vehicles in his fleet. His opinion is that the high efficiency shown is the result of using his own depots and staffs to ensure quick turn-round of every vehicle employed.
The following show the comparisons between the results of operating this vehicle in commercial service and those according to its use as a unit of the Chartered Fleet. The latter figures were, of course, given in the previous article; they are repeated here to facilitate comparison. ' The total mileage, in a period of 12 weeks, was 11,985, compared with 5,665. The mileage in commercial service
was thus more than double that in Government service. The amount earned was £1,160 4s. Id., compared with £548 15s. 7d. The cost per mile was Is. 11.2d., contrasted with 2s. lid. The total loaded mileage was 10,325, against 4,339 (considerably more than double) and the cost per loaded mile was 2s. 3.Id. against 2s. 9.3d.
The average number of miles run per week was 999, as against 470. The average number of loaded miles pef week was 860, compared with 360. The average percentage of loaded miles to total mileage was 86, as against 76.6 and the average number of tons carried per week was 56.6, contrasted with 33.
Figures for Another Chartered Vehicle In Table IV I give detailed records of the operation of another chartered vehicle owned by a different operator. The period covered is five weeks, during which 44 journeys were recorded, of which 19 only were loaded journeys.
I assume that this vehicle, a 12-tonner, was paid according to the standard rates for chartered vehicles, plus a certain percentage for expenses, and I arrive at a total for the period of approximately £290. The load carried averaged 7.9 tons per journey, which is approximately
66 per cent. only of he load capacity of the vehicle. The proportion of loaded mileage was a little short of 82 per cent. The actual tonnage per week was as little as 30, compared with the figures given above, for commercial practice, of 56.6 tons per week, so that the loading under charter use is little more than half that which is customary in commercial. practice.
From the point of view of the operator, as distinct from the national aspect of the matter, which is what we are really considering in these articles, the figures are even more disappointing. Whereas the earnings of the vehicle to which reference was made in the previous article, approximated to an average of £50 per week and those of the chartered vehicle described in this article to 258 per Week, the commercial figures for the corresponding vehicle averaged rather better than £96 per week.