A New Leaf Before U

26th September 1952, Page 76

26th September 1952

Page 76

Page 77

Page 76, 26th September 1952 — A New Leaf Before U

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The Road Haulage Industry of the Future Promises No Easy Money and the R.H.A. Has an Important Part to Play in Keeping Operators on the Right Lines By Bernard Winterbottom

Chairman, Road Haulage Association

T0 those who can look back over the past couple of decades of road transport history, almost every year seems to have been hailed as a turning point of one kind or another. I would not attempt rash prognostications and I should hate to forecast that this is the occasion when the tide is to be turned once and for all. No doubt it will continue to go out and come in as always from the beginning of time.

But there is a vast change coming—one that in broad terms will turn haulage back into a genuine industry again. That means a great deal, but the situation should not be visualized in the stark black and white in which so many people seem to see it. Between the two extremes there is a mass of half-tones and in those halftones lie the problems that still have to be solved. Honest men find no trouble in the black or -the white, but even for them doubts and difficulties are massed beneath the surface of the greys.

Bill May be Changed • The main provision of the Transport Bill now before Parliament is to restore long-distance road transport to private ownership and the only fleets excluded are those previously controlled by the railways (or vehicles of a similar tonnage). in this brief survey 1 do not propose to go into the merits, or otherwise, of many clauses of the present Bill, for the Act which finally emerges may be something quite different.

For the vast majority of those operating road vehicles for ,hire or reward and many who, through force of circumstance, were forced to take positions with the nationalized industry, the return to reasonable freedom of operation cannot come too soon. Make no mistake, however: at the present stage there are no big profits in the industry. There will be no quick gains, but rather the opportunity once again to develop businesses which will provide a better service to trade and industry, and in many easel a cheaper one, thus contributing to the recovery of the country and the restoration of something like its pre-war status.

As a means for earning a living, road transport has never been an easy occupation. Success has been dependent upon industry and team work, with drivers and maintenance staffs functioning in close co-operation with the management: In the many small undertakings there was never any time-lag in making decisions and carrying them out. Thus the kind of service that I hope will return to the industry as a whole was created. Nobody will deny, I think, that something of this family business spirit, which took pride in performing the seemingly impossible, disappeared with the coming of

British Road Services. As there has been nothing -to take its place, neither management nor workmen have had quite the same feeling of satisfaction in the work they have had to undertake.

What is the future of road haulage? Remember that the future comes only one day at a tiine, so it would be rash to plan the years ahead before we can see clearly what is written on the page for to-morrow. Will the future be decided and worked out by the industry and its customers on merit;or is it to be regulated, taxed and twisted by succeeding Acts of Parliament to conform to particular shades of political opinion of the day?

Must road transport always be attacked by railwayprotecting Oovernments, whatever their political colours? Cannot it be admitted that where an industrialist requires road transport he will have it? In the days to come his service is going to be provided at keen rates—a distinct thing, be it noted, from cut rates. In this connection, I think that the Road Haulage Association can give a lead in ensuring better understanding between operators. With finer margins of profit in prospect, the Association can help in ensuring that aU are working on common-sense lines.

Between the wars the railways were slowly purchasing more motor vehicles and had acquired considerable interests in haulage fleets. When the growth of haulage vehicles was artificially checked, however, the trader and industrialist began operating more units -of their own, instead of turning to the railways for help. Why? Because in four cases out of five, the service they demanded was not available.

C-licence Compromise Road transport was the only answer and when not' procurable in suitable form, because of the restrictions on hauliers, the natural tendency was for the men with traffic to offer to build up their own fleets. Under critical examination, many of these do not always appear as particularly economical or efficient, but only as the best in the circumstances.

What would, at one time, have appeared an incredible position has now arisen. British Road Services have, in round figures, 43,000 vehicles, of which some 39,000 are used, and perhaps no more than 36,000 are required for the traffic available. British Railways have 14,381 vehicles, with 21,644 trailers in addition, an increase of over 2,000 units last year.

Members of the free-enterprise road haulage industry have 40,448 A-licence, 62,690 B-licence and 13,095 A-contract vehicles. Ancillary users have approximately 821,000 C-licence machines, of which 269,737 can carry 4 tons and over. In the year to June last, an additional 53,490 C-licence vehicles came on the roads—the equivalent of the total A-licence and A-contract vehicles working for hire or reward and restricted by the 25-mile limit imposed by the Transport Act, 1947.

Intolerable conditions have been caused by that Act, as a result of which the economics of the country have suffered tremendously. When the selling back of the industry is completed and the 25-mile radius can be lifted, we should have—once again in round terms—the following vehicles:— (1) Road Haulage: A licences, 76,000;. A contract licences, 13,000; B licences, 63,000; total, .152,000.

(2) B.T.C.: British Railways, 14,500; vehicles acquired from B.R.S. under the Act, previously controlled by the railways, 3,500; total, 18,000, plus trailers, 22,000.

(3) Trade and industry: C. licences (with estimated growthin the next 12 months), 850,000.

To make successful progress, private hauliers will need to check the growth of the larger type of C-licence operator and, in fact, to reduce the numbers of vehicles at present running by proving to the commercial world that as good, or a better, service can be provided at lower cost. Although it is impossible to generalize, I am sure that with many traffics this can be done. However, the growth in the number of vehicles on C hiring margins, whilst in the main caused by the limitations on A and B licences, has also been influenced by other factors, so that many of these hire-maintenance contracts are here to stay.

Larger Fleets

When the B.R.S. vehicles are sold, it seems a reasonable assumption that a good proportion will go to existing operators, which would have the effect of increasing the numbers of vehicles run by each concern. I believe that the trend in the future will be for the number of vehicles in each business to increase, so that there might well be a quick jump to an average of six vehicles per operator against the present figure, which I believe is rather less than three.

When a man operates half-a-dozen machines and upwards, he needs a different organization from that of the man who is running, only one or two and, with capital values so high to-day, the average operator will have a substantial sum of money locked up in his business.

On the whole, however, I would assume that there will be fewer really big businesses in free-enterprise haulage than was the case in the pre-nationalization era. There are, however, many who are interested in buying back businesses, always provided that the former operators can raise the necessary finance.

In this connection, I would reiterate my disagreement with subsidies, and particularly with the suggested levy, which demands that the haulier shall subsidize the railways. The Government, of course, is insuring itself against loss, but, if finally a levy is forced on the industry, we should be given a definite figure and a definite concluding date, instead of being left in the inconclusive position that is visualized in the Bill.

Notwithstanding wild statements, there was a steady improvement in every branch of the average haulage business between the two wars. Earnings, working conditions and maintenance compared favourably with the progress of other industries at that period. Disputes between employer and employee were almost nonexistent and operators had the benefit of first-rate vehicles, once again continually being improved, produced by a first-rate manufacturing industry to which I know all hauliers will be the first to pay tribute.

I am sure that in the future we shall have the advan tage of better vehicles, better maintained, and I am sure that all concerned will find that working conditions are quite as good as, if not better than, under State ownership. Many workers are considering how'they can take a stake in the business that employs them. I believe there is now an opportunity for this widening of ownership and there is much to be said for an investment in a sound undertaking in which the employee himself is also engaged.

An increasingly important factor for the future will be the improvement and maintenance of the roads. The nation must spend the money extracted by the taxation of road users for the purpose for which it has been subscribed, otherwise in and around many cities, the delays will ultimately reach such proportions as to interfere with the service that road transport can offer.

More Specialized Transport The growth of specialized forms of road transport has been one of the notable features of recent years and I see tremendous scope for the employment of special.type vehicles, as well as trans-shipping and loading aids. Hauliers, I think, will be looking for means for reducing costs by increasing loaded mileage and by speed in loading and unloading. Delays are one of the greatest problems of the industry, and particularly is this true at certain docks.

A good rate quickly becomes uneconomic if there is unreasonable delay at terminal points and more vehicles become necessary than should in the ordinary way be required. In its own interests, therefore, as well as for the general benefit, the industry must do everything possible, in co-operation with others concerned, to make the speediest practicable turn-rounds.

61 have not attempted to deal with the road and rail problem, for I believe that both agencies of transport must first concentrate on their individual difficulties and attain maximum efficiency in their particular spheres. There should be complete freedom for the buyers of transport to choose the type which they decide is necessary for their particular businesses. This matter seems to have puzzled the brains of successive Governments, as well as road and rail leaders, over many years, but it will never be settled by taxing one method as against another, and in the long run the only solution must be for each to concentrate on the type of traffic it can best carry. The most efficient and cheapest method must be allowed to develop and expand.

Co-operation Essential

Anyone coming into the industry, or enlarging his present undertaking, must be prepared to work and plan in conjunction with his fellow hauliers. The years ahead are not going to be easy, but that is true for all of us in these small islands. We must have efficient transport, and I know no one who can provide it better than the men in the haulage industry, in co-operation with those who were forced out and who are waiting to come back.

I would repeat that, in my opinion, we should somehow widen the entry to management and ownership. have already mentioned the opportunities that may be at hand. Perhaps in the buying back of the State vehicles we shall see some of our drivers and other employees coming along and investing in the industry which provides their livelihood.

A new leaf is being turned for the road haulage industry. At the moment, it is not quite a clean sheet that lies in front of us. The R.H.A. is trying to sweep away the black spots and grey patches. What is then written on the sheet will provide the introduction for an era that we hope may last many years.