The Folly of Permitting the Cutting of Rates.
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THE SMALL haulier to-day is not in the happiest of circumstances, because the prevailing slackness of trade has its natural corollary in a reduced demand for his services. Obviously, if productien of raw materials and manufactured goods is below the normal level, there is less work for transport, and the only course left open for the man with a fleet of vehicles, wholly or partly idle, is to try to cut into the business of the wealthier corporations, whose reserves are sufficient to enable them to tide over the bad times, as the small man without like reserves is unable to do. For the good of his own class, it is better for him to try to prove to those merchants and traders who habitually use the railways that road haulage is equally as cheap, and can actually offer certain advantages in the way of door-to-door collection and delivery and of absence of delays in railway sidings.
We are by no means oblivious to the fact that there is often some justification for a sacrifice of a portion of the profit on a job. made with the object of " getting in," but the cutting of rates is poor policy because a low rate, once obtained, is demanded for all subsequent orders, and it becomes increasingly difficult, thereafter, to get haulage business back on to a basis which shall again be profitable to the haulier.
Goodwill is nearly always the factor which is productive of paYing rates. Promptitude, despatch and reliability serve to create goodwill, and the merchant with a load of goods required to be transported and delivered in good order and up to time would always give the preference to the reliable_ haulier, even at a higher rate than that offered by a man who has not been so careful or so prompt in the past. Goodwill is generally one of the most valued possessions of the older and larger concerns in the haulage industry ; not only, as we have said, is it productive of paying rates, but it actually brings business. To secure this goOdwill must be the aim and object of every, small man, and it can only be secured by keenness and honesty of purpose.
Great strength of mind is necessary in order to resist the efforts of those who would endeavour to force the acceptance of return loads at about one-half of the full rate. There is an opening for the agent who is prepared to find loads and to find transport for them, and such an agent is well en titled to 10 per cent. of the freight, provided he actually gets the business, collects the freight and settles any disputes. But wecannot see that thereis any justification for the existence of an agent who can only find loads at low rates, taking his commission and forcing the haulier to conduct his business at a loss. The weakness of the hauliers lies in the fa.ct that there is so large a proportion of the class which does not realize what it actually costs to run a lorry covering all overhead charges.
The Growing Strains on the Roads and Local Funds.
r\NE CAN understand and sympathize with the complaint (reasonably phrased and courteously advanced) of the surveyor to the Lindsey (Lincolnshire) County Council against the destruction of the main roads in the county by very heavy traffic, and against the consequent cost to the inhabitants. In the county, with a population, mostly rural, of 260,000, there are 630 miles of main roads, and the gross expenditure on their maintenance during the current financial year would be a quarter of a. million sterling—not far short of an average tax of 21 per head, man, woman and child, and the hardship lies in the fart that the damage is caused, not by the private and commercial vehicles of the residents, but by through traffic.
The pursuit of the present policy (and one which, unquestionably, is a correct one) is resulting in a very great improvement in roads generally—their straightening, widening, levelling and strengthening, the removal of elements of danger at crossings and at curves—and, as the surveyor says, if this process continues of improving the facilities offered by the roads, they must soon become much more serious competitors of the railways than is even now the case.
ideas contained in these sug gestions can be held to be impracticable or not worth Pursuing to a practical c o
Lessening Competition in Passenger carrying.
THERE is a tendency in some parts of the country towards a fusion of interests in passengercarrying,. the effect of competition since the fine summer of 1921 (followed, ot course, by a cycle of doubtful seasons and reduced public support) being shown in this manner. One may take as an example the state of affairs in one of the most popular resorts in the south-west. Besides the buses operating from this centre, there are over a hundred motor coaches belonging to companies and individuals, with competition rife to secure such business as may be offering, with the result that was only to be expected—the fares accepted do not show an adequate return upon the i1ee,900 said to bei invested in this one branch of the business.
Absorption and amalgamation of interests is the only way in which to secure the re-establishment of a profitable scale of fares, and, curiously enough, such a profitable scale is quite practicable, because the sum of sixpence or a shilling cut off the fare for a certain trip is not a vital matter so far ,as the holiday maker is concerned, but the loss of it may easily render the trip unprofitable to the coach owner.
Working arrangements tending towards the maintenance of the scale of fares, are seldom of any value, because of the lack of the possibility of ex trading a penalty from the coach owner who, under the stress of the weather or of a fall in public patronage, cuts the rate. We have not yet reached the level in communism that one finds on landing in Capri, where the porters pool their earnings, the vehicle drivers theirs and the guides theirs, an equal division removing all incentives to cut the agreed rates, and, moreover, cutting out the need for pestering the visitors by touting. Yet the scheme is so eminently sensible that one wonders that a highly civilized race such as ours cannot, within limits and in certain circumstances, adopt something sited; lar.
In the popular resort, to which we have referred, a fusion of interests is already taking place, but the individualities of the absorbed concerns are not being lost, o I d names, organizations, directorates and managements being maintained. Thus, the loss of close personal attention to details which often results from the grouping of businesses is not be n g incurred, which is all to the good,, and, instead, t h e energies previously expended in fighting Competition can now be devoted to the development of the business and of previously neglected branches thereof. One valuable result will be a better distribution of the fleet over a greater variety of routes.