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L AST year was a good one for road haulage. The
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chairman of the Transport Development Group, Mr. Philip S. Henman, said this in his annual statement, published this week. As already reported, the group consolidated profit before tax was 0,792,636. Mr. Henman said that increases in wages and other costs were offset to some extent by rate increases and the high volume of traffic available reduced empty running to a minimum and increased profitability.
The United Kingdom haulage fleet now numbers about 3,000 vehicles (the entire TDG fleet is 3,835). Contract fleets were further extended and provided a solid regular contribution to profitability, said Mr. Henman. Trailer services to the Continent again increased, and there had been a noticeable improvement in the balance of loading in each direction. An eight-acre site has been bought at Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, which will be developed for a road haulage and warehousing terminal.
Speaking of the future of the group (whose employees now number almost 10,000), Mr. Henman said: " The group is in fine fettle and ready to enlarge wherever an opportunity for effective deployment of its capital appears. Our discussions with British Railways on the question of liner trains have continued to the point where we are satisfied that on certain routes the project can be viable from a Group point of view. We are ready to go ahead as soon as the liner train services are made available ".
He added that TDG welcomed any inquiry which sought to establish the true costs of the different methods of transport, so long as the establishment of these costs was followed by an attitude of mind which made profitability the criterion of successful operation and so objectively ensured to the community the services it needed at minimum cost. "In this field a considerable service has been performed by the Transport Holding Company, which represents the state-owned sector of the haulage industry, and which submitted a masterly memorandum to the Geddes Committee on the subject of road revenue and costs said the TDG chairman.
He concluded: " In all a new climate seems to be developing in the transport field-one of objective analysis rather than emotion—and such a climate augurs well for the future of the Group ".