ju ga l sitsoggiR F or some time now there have been articles and
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letters from journalists, hauliers and contributors to CM blaming all the problems in the road haulage industry on "cowboy" operators, with calls for the impounding of unlicenced vehicles and increased enforcement.
The problem is, what is a "cowboy"? It would appear from the articles that most of the writers consider that anyone with just one or two trucks fits the bill. There must be some truth in this as I read in CM (2-8 January) that an operator with a licence for nine vehicles who ran an extra nine unlicenced escaped any penalty when discovered and actually had his licence increased. So he was not a "cowboy" then.
Unfortunately, most of the writers of these articles seem a little ignorant of life at the grass roots. Lord Attlee says new entrants have no idea of their operating costs except for basics like fuel. This is true of some (doesn't the CPC exam cover this?) however, I can assure him that there are a considerable number of well established medi urn-sized hauliers who have no idea of their tyre costs.
Another point that he and many others make is that these small operators generally cut rates. But the rates are set by the bigger operators by virtue of their size and back-up facilities. No one or two-vehicle operators could approach a large customer and hope to take any work from a large operator. The customer does not want the work of extra accounts or to be bothered with the problems of breakdowns.
I have been an owner-driver since 1969 (at one time I running three trucks, but it wasn't for me) and I am usually told what my rates will be on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, frequently by the people who put owner-drivers down in these articles.
Another small point is that, except for road tax, everything that I have to buy is more expensive than for a large operator, from the price of my fuel to the cost of my truck. One last point. Jam frequently perplexed by the annual mileages claimed in some articles. For example, during the summer I remember reading of an Irishman who said his trucks averaged 180,0(X) miles a year. That takes some believing. At 90 hours a fortnight and 26 fortnights a year he would need an average speed of 76mph. Even if something was lost in the translation and he meant 180,000km he would still need an average of 48mph for every hour? Gavin McArdle, UK & International Transport, Somerset.