Work 1-•• not words
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We've met very few hauliers (or farmers) who were optimists in their speech or pessimists in their actions. Our round-up this week of traffic trends in half-a-dozen haulage fields may have a gloomy ring, but behind the wary words one senses that business is not nearly so bad as most operators had feared for 1975. The time has come for transport operators—indeed, businessmen everywhere—to believe in themselves once more; to believe in their own expertise, their judgment, their ability to motivate workpeople—and their own common sense.
The greatest allies of those who would destroy our system are those who encourage—or permit—overmanning, under-production and misuse of resources. In road transport this means higher costs than we can afford as •a nation, higher than we need to pay. Now is the time for operators to use drivers' experience to help the traffic office and loading bank arrange routes and loads to cut dead mileage; now is the time for maintenance staff to be working at times when vehicles can 'be off the road without loss of productivity— late shifts, night shifts and weekends. Now is the time to approach customers to open earlier and close later. Now is the chance to prove the claim that transport is important to the well-being of the nation.