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Rayner Barker
• A down-to-earth, no-nonsense "tyke", Ray Barker, who has been chairman of the West Riding area of the Road Haulage Association since last year, is a firm believer in the value of common sense as an aid to solving the problems which beset the modern road haulage industry. "Academically educated managers are fine and the industry should welcome their recruitment," he told me, "but they should also be able to apply practical knowledge and a sensible approach to management of road transport."
Totally committed to the industry himself with the same company — T. Spence Ltd — since he started his career in 1938, Mr Barker thinks that nothing less than complete transport involvement will do. People coming into road haulage should realize that 100 per cent effort is necessary to achieve success, is his feeling.
Chairman's responsibilities
He practises what he preaches, too, for apart from accepting an area chairman's responsibilities, he has been vice-chairman of the RHA's Leeds sub-area for six years and is vice-chairman of Road Transport Agencies (West Riding) Ltd, a clearing house organization comprising R HA members in Leeds. Neither is he afraid of climbing down from his company director's chair to sort out problems on the workshop floor or in the cab, though his wartime service as an air-crew member of RAF Transport Command has taught him to value a correct relationship between leader and led.
As one would expect, Ray Barker has not allowed humanitarian principles to become obscured and he tells me that he encourages his staff to approach him with their problems both at work and at home. He says it is unreasonable to expect men to work properly if they are troubled by some difficulty which, with a little co-operation, can be put right.
Despite his assertion that there are just not enough hours in the day, he can be found without difficulty on any Saturday afternoon when Leeds United are playing at Elland Road and he has just bought a set of golf clubs, his handicap is 24.