TAKE T HI (tOADT A Westermann (UK) runs one of the
Page 38
Page 39
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
largest drawbar fleets in Britain. Now it wants small hauliers and owner-operators to share in its success.
Westermann (UK) has taken specialisation to its logical conclusion — designing and patenting vehicles to suit its international haulage operation.
And for small hauliers struggling with the bad debts and rate cutting that dog general haulage, Westemiann may just have a way out.
Start with the vehicles. Six years after Westermann was set up in this country by German holding company Intervest of Munster, it has become the biggest drawbar operator in the UK. Not that there are many competitors, says managing director Tony Stanley: "British truckers tend to be conservative, and if they buy a piece of kit they like it to be multipurpose. There's too much traditionalism. You can count substantial drawbar operators on the fingers of one hand — Eddie Stobart, Barnfathers, ourselves and a couple of others."
Westermann rejects the 'all things to all
men' approach and has focused instead on developing a rig that can only do one thing transport light, high volume goods hut it does that supremely well.
The company runs 45 patented 120m3 drawbars; most are based on MANs, with a scattering of Daf 2100s and Volvos. Cube, not engine power, is of the essence. As Stanley explains, the concept revolves round balancing a notional triangle of power, cubic payload and costs.
MANs do not dominate simply because, like Intervest and the biggest of the Westermann operating companies, they are German, but also because MAN has taken up the company's challenge and poured research and development funds into the high-volume drawbar concept.
"It was the first manufacturer to really work with us, and a few years ago they were the first to build a tractive unit (the 12.192) specifically designed for roadtrains," says Stanley.
"They co-operated with our bodybuilders and subsequently have become. the only maker apparently capable of supplying us with a regular supply of modified chassis-cabs." So specialised is the design that the body and even the trailer coupling have been patented.
"We are carrying cheap voluminous products, like tin cans and car body panels, so retail margins On them are very tight. The I20m3 bodies enable us to carry very cheaply," says Stanley. "Our service may cost a little more than a standard 75m3 body on a 12m straight-frame because, for example, we have to pay higher ferry rates. But I guarantee we can reduce any customer's distribution costs by at least 10%."
CHARGES
Stanley gives a simple illustration: "Say the operator of a 75m3 trailer charges £750 for an international trip; it works out at 210lin3. I will charge about 21,000 for the same job, but my roadtrain can take 120m, which works out at .28.33 per unit."
Which begs the question, why aren't hundreds of British operators leaping on the drawbar bandwagon?
Traditionalism aside, Stanley recognises that the Government's refusal to harmonise Construction and Use Regulations combines with particular geographical problems to make drawbar operation difficult in the UK.
. The chief stumbling block is the 32tonne limit, he says. "British operators are hamstrung by being out of step with the rest of the EC. I can see no logical reason for ruling against at least 40 tonnes on major trunk routes international work is competitive enough without this sort of handicap.
'The fact that warehouses are still being built with no thought for the access "It sometimes feels like re-inventing the wheel when I present our drawbar service to potential customers, but transport professionals failing to think ahead is the main reason drawbars haven't taken off here."
Although it only has 45 vehicles on its books, Westermann (UK) can cope with the demands of several major clients because it has access to hundreds of trucks run by the Intervest group out of Germany, France and Holland. Westermann Spedition of Munster has 250 trucks on its books; Van Aaist of Bocholt runs a dozen; Verwolht Spedition of Vreden has 50; Logistics company Kaiseraur runs several drawbars and Westermann France has about 20.
COMPUTERISATION
Stanley has just completed a computerisation programme. This system will go online to Germany soon, allowing Westermann (UK) to dovetail international work even more effectively with the European fleet. hitervest is conducting satellite tracking trials on several trucks baSed in Germany, using a US system.
Intervest and Westermann 'run' trucks rather than 'own' them because the group works on a franchise basis, using small hauliers and owner-drivers on long-term contracts.
All 45 drawbars currently operated by Stanley from the company's Basildon, Essex headquarters belong to independent hauliers.
"Small hauliers, with few exceptions. have little marketing expertise," says Stanley. "They are not adequately customer driven, Our sYstetn allows them to do what they do best operating the hardware leaving us to find work and sort out finance.
"I believe that the small haulier has a basic problem. We have seen in the market generally that mergers and takeovers of the 1980s have created a pool of very large buyers of transport services. They are demanding a very large capacity and there's no way the small man can participate in that directly. He can, however, participate indirectly under our franchise system, which is common in Germany but almost unknown over here."
To work with Westermann a haulier has to sign a binding five-year working agreement and buy one of the high-cube drawbar rigs.
To help the manufacturers Westermann pre-orders batches of trucks and holds them until it takes more hauliers on to its books.
The haulier buys the vehicle through Westermann, but from the manufacturer. He must then maintain and run his vehicle under the watchful eyes of Westermann's technical inspectors.
in return Westermann offers a guaranteed minimum weekly payment calculated on the haulier's operating costs, thus eliminating a lot of risk. It will arrange the haulier's working schedule, take care of all Customs documentation and ferry payments, and pay for each job within six weeks of completion.
Owner-drivers and operators of a few trucks are caught in the same trap as all small businessmen, says Stanley. They often operate on such a knife edge that their first mistake can be their last: "It winds me up to see small hauliers going under because they made one bad decision," says Stanley, "Our hauliers don't have to worry about avoiding had payers and keeping the trucks busy; that is my worry. It's n-ty job to make those judgements, we are big enough to take the odd mistake and keep trading effectively."
CANDIDATES
The perfect candidate for Westermann is a small haulier (no more than five or six vehicles) who is disillusioned with independent general haulage. He or she will have some vehicles to sell in order to raise some capital to buy a new drawbar rig. A candidate should be experienced in international work, says Stanley, and must be "a realist". As regards owner-drivers, Westermann is also looking for people who have some experience of international haulage, and want "bread and butter, regular work".
The search for such candidates is now on, for Westermann is sailing through the recession with ease and plans to expand the fleet by perhaps 25% this year. A minimum of 10 drawbars will be added by the summer with 10 more later on, although some of these will be replacements.
Niche marketing is paying off for Westermann, Perhaps it could also pay off for small operators struggling to keep the 0 by Paul Fisher