Peter Thompson
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Peter Thompson, chairman and chief executive of the National Freight Consortium, followed Lord Lucas's speech with a paper and slide show entitled If I Had My Way.
In presenting his paper, Mr Thompson said that he was entitled to be dogmatic, pragmatic and quite reckless. Much of his highly entertaining presentation, though, simply made good sense and was far from reckless.
"If I had my way road haulage and distribution would be a quality industry. I have a vision of an industry which in every way is a higher quality industry than the one we know at present.
"Road haulage is obsessed with the belief that low costs and hence low rates are the be all and end all, whereas in reality we should be concentrating on excellence of service and quality of presentation. Our most successful customers are always seeking quality in their own operations — or at any rate, most of them are. Their staff, at all levels, enjoy good working conditions, attractive benefits and sophisticated appraisal and reward systems. Why should they give them up when it comes to the transport part of their operation?"
In an ideal world, drivers should be salaried, should work reasonable hours and no longer rely on overtime to enhance take-home pay, said Mr Thompson. Weekly average earnings in the industry are above average at £137.90 per week (as at April, 1982), but they are earned by working too much overtime, he said.
"We are the longest working industry in the country. Drivers should enjoy the pension and sick pay bonus which go with salaried status. What is more, there should be built in for them a high level of take-home pay tied not to their own physical, individual effort, but to the extent that they contribute to the development of a profitable business — even including share options."
Some of the conditions people work under are unacceptable, he claimed. They should not have to put up with sleeper cabs and inadequate messrooms and cafes, Mr Thompson told delegates.
On the industry and enviroment, Mr Thompson provided more food for thought when he said that the industry often makes too much noise, creates smells and dust, and upsets people by parking in residential streets. As a quality industry, why should we not concentrate on providing depots which are decent and properly located, he asked?
"If I had my way we would stop worrying and embrace the sensible environmentalists. If the combined wisdom is that hgvs must not make deliveries in one of our major cities, so be it. If this means that trans-shipment centres have to be operated, our industry will make a superb job of doing it. Of course, it goes without saying that quality has to be paid for."
Peter Thompson adopted a similar attitude towards vehicle standards. They should be quieter, safer and maintained to a standard which is beyond reproach, he said.
"Once again, let us be on the side of quality and excellence. If the community has requirements which by democratic processes are judged to be reasonable, who are we to say they cost too much. Let us be on the magistrate's side of the bench instead of forever being in the dock."
The controversy did not stop there. Mr Thompson went on to talk about the similarities between the RHA and Freight Transport Association which, as his slide presentation proved, essentially provide the same services to their respective members.
"Should we — and this time I mean all the people involved in road transport operations — be looking for one body which, because it represents quality and excellence through all the industry, is an even greater power in the land than the RHA and FTA are today, operating separately?
"Couple this idea of a single quality body with the ideas I have already expressed about quality in the ways we run our businesses, the ways in which we should come up alongside our customers and the ways in which we should reach agreement with the best of the envi ronmentalists.
"If our association did have to spend so much time ging in its heels and saying ' just think how effective it c( be in its forward looking."
The association of the e)i lent that Peter Thompson ha mind would take on a numbe activities which ought to handled exclusively within industry.
"Entry into the profess vehicle testing; tachograph bration, training, examinati and the subsequent grantin qualifications recogni throughout our industry — ti are all things which should within the responsibility quality association which is presentative of the excellent us not forget also that sucl association could be air totally self-regulatory."
In conclusion, Mr Thoml said he would like to see th dustry efficiency sensitive rathan price sensitive, with dri looking not for produc. oriented bonuses but for sah which are enhanced by bon and share options which profit oriented. Following formation of the associatio
e excellent, Government ould after a few years, be spared to draw back and allow :. industry to be its own regula', he said.
'Jot surprisingly, the presenta n provoked a huge response m the floor. RHA directorneral Freddie Plaskett feared it the "association of the exlent" might turn into an assotion of the elite, while Tom wellyn (Econofreight) asked N one should deal with the ick Ashwells of this world" en employees are invited to e up shares with a company are discouraged by their on. Another delegate was icerned about union strength en it came to employee reholders, but was more rried about the return of a ialist government and the reionalisation of businesses. eter Thompson's replies
'e convincing. He also adted that NFC is guilty of many the things that he had icised. And when talking ut the proposed association le excellent, he stressed that lification should depend on quality rather than the size of company. He also confessed he was uncertain if the NFC lid be good enough to qualor membership.