TO SURVIVE, operators should look for specialist areas in which
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to compete and offer a good and well marketed service, said Dr Warner.
Operators who wish to stay in road haulage should move into the contract hire and contract services business; this is the one area to make money, he said.
It is a difficult area to get into and an operator has to be "super efficient" and offer a high quality of service, and market itself well.
It would also help to increase rates as customers do not mind paying for a known excellent service, he said.
Dr Warner advised ownaccount operators never to forget to examine how far they should operate their own fleet and how far they should use hire or reward hauliers.
But he warned that even though an own-account operator may wring a hard bargain from an outside haulier, the service is more important than a small fall in price. He said: "Don't take transport suppliers to the absolute limit and screw them into the ground."
• Dr Warner also pointed to the increasing trend for operators to use 38 tonnes.
Since their introduction in May 1983 they had penetrated the market very quickly. By the end of 1989 he forecasted that half of the articulated vehicles over 32 tonnes will be 38 tonners. He said a 38-tonner reduced costs per mile by 10 per cent.
• Prospects are "more favourable" for international hauliers for the next three to four years, said Dr Warner. This is because of increasing trade with the EEC — from 1973 to 1983 trade has increased by a third both ways.