Tie Bad
Page 36
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
awL
Ugeg
I have read your Special Report on Haulage Costs (CM August 12) as illustrated by Mr John Silbermann and as I am an owner-driver, it was of special interest to me.
I entered the industry in the days of the C licence and, at that time, I was only concerned with the carriage of own good relating to my motor engineering business. But when the 0 licence change took place, I decided to branch out into general haulage for hire and reward, using my existing business connections and goodwill.
From the beginning, I decided to go strictly by the book and I felt that any customer receiving good personal service would be prepared to pay, perhaps, a little higher rate for the job in return. I feel that the service given by people, such as I, to be far better than some of the larger haulage companies because they are in the hands of employed drivers and my experience is that some invariably have a "couldn't care less" attitude towards the job as it is not their money involved; why should they, therefore, bother too much, unless it puts extra money in their pockets by way of bonus or the like?
I quite agree with John Silbermann about the cowboys and others, who he refers to in his report as Naughty & Son or I. M. Nasty. Nobody is suffering more from these dishonest operators than the owner-driver who is strictly on the straight; although Mr Silbermann may not be aware of this, there are quite a number of us still trading and trucking in spite of some very hard and lean times in the past.
But there is another type of cheat he has not mentioned in this article, perhaps because he does not know they exist, or because it does not affect the larger companies too noticeably, or finally, perhaps, because it is invariably the larger so-called reputable operators with their new vehicles and fine livery that are the guilty ones.
I am referring, of course, to the operators who run mainly on TIR and Middle East work — the "Smart Alec' who openly claims exemption from paying the full road fund licence duty and pays on private use rates only for his tractor units, claiming that he does no haulage with them in this country.
Although this may surprise Mr Silbermann, it is actually being done, quite openly, by some of his own members and, for this reason alone, I have ommitted to join the RHA, although I think highly of their activities and efforts for the legal operator.
How can one member cut another's throat by cheap rates, because this is the result? Again, this can result in considerable undercutting and causes as much damage to the honest operator, both large and small, as either Mr I. M. Nasty or Naughty & Sons, the only difference here being that the culprits hardly ever get caught because they appear to be beyond fiddling to make extra money and are active mainly in the districts adjacent to the dock areas from where they normally embark.
But what is the explanation to these operators whose units can often be seen up-country hauling trailers still with a private licence exhibited, especially when TIR work is slack?
I truly wholeheartedly second Mr Silbermann in his opinion that something needs to be done to put dishonest operators out of the industry. But this surely could refer to some of the larger contractors as well as the owner-driver or small type operator who indirectly can be classified as cowboys in a different way.
Whether one is either a large of small operator, we all too well feel the effects of the cowboys in the industry. But I feel it should be recognised that there are also the people going undetected because of their bright shiny sign-written vehicles plying to and fro across the Channel.
G. FRY, Canterbury, Kent.
In your article "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," you refer to The Bad and the Ugly as being owner-drivers.
Clearly, you have not obtained the full facts from a good cross-section of operators, otherwise this article would have been written in a different manner.
For your information, there are many Good owner-drivers operating today and they are giving a service, second to none, for respectable rates. .They are usually first-class drivers who have become fed up with being pushed around by employers and have gone into business to obtain the kind of financial return which they are worth.
There are, I agree, many Bad and Ugly owner-drivers ant there are many more Bad ant Ugly fleet operators. The num bers of the latter which can bE classed as Good are very fey% and far between.
You state that depresse( haulage rates are causing rea trouble to the industry. This is basically, the answer to thi problem, but it requires furthe explanation.
Firstly, how many operator are there that are working fo rates based on 94p per mile a 500 miles per week? My answe is that there are very few (if any Some may say that they do, IR, if you have the opportunity t seek the truth, you will discovE that they are working for far les and are actually in the Ba category in order to keep i business.
Others employ owner-drivel and sub-contractors on a larg scale as they are not prepared t work for depressed rates them selves. These owner-drivers an sub-contractors are often force into the position of working fc these concerns to ensure cont nuity of work, or through lack ( capital and have to ensur prompt payment to keep som form of cash flow in operation.
The sensible alternative is cease trading, but unfortunati ly, there are very few who ca see where they are going wron as this industry is full of peop who live in the past or live f( today.
One solution is to mak sub-contracting illegal. The would then be ample work Ii everyone to obtain direct frol customers at sensible rates.
Another solution is for if Government to back the form tion of co-operatives and to pa! legislation forcing any prospe tive operator to become member before a licence granted and existing operato would have to produce eviden( of membership before the licences were renewed. Event ally, the Bad and the Ugly wou be forced out of business.
Your solution to cut tF supply of worked-out vehicles partly a good one, but as y( state, finance is easy to come I if you know the right people.
The RHA leaves a lot to I desired; their large drop membership has proved 0and until it is run in the interE of ALL members the situati( will not change.
Please, Commercial Mot publish further articles on if subject, but in future, do mc research.
MICHAEL S. WELLS, Egham, Surrey.