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LEASING WITH LOMBARD • We have noted with interest the
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unsolicited accolade which Lombard has received in the article "Making the Most of Their Money" in Commercial Motor's finance supplement included with the 2 March issue.
This article resulted from a discussion between your reporter and Bruce Alderson of G Alderson and Sons, of Appleby.
Before Lombard is inundated with requests for "soft loans", we feel we should clarify the nature of the financial packages which we offer to commercial vehicle operators.
Whatever form our funding options take, they are inevitably a variant of either leasing, hire purchase or loan. Whether or not the nature of a loan is considered soft or otherwise is a matter for the customer's judgement.
However, when leasing is the chosen method, Lombard does not allow its customers to buy the goods at the end of the lease. What normally happens is that the customer receives a rebate of rentals equal to a major proportion of the sales proceeds from the open market.
We are delighted that we have been able to support Mr Alderson in his expansion plans, but your readers should be advised that whatever scheme we might have provided, a "soft loan" is one of the few facilities which does not appear in our armoury! N B Parry,
Lombard North Central, Redhill, Surrey.
THE DRIVER'S LOT • Commercial Motor is absolutely correct. If you expect the best out of drivers you must give them the best equipment, but the days of the "torture chambers" referred to in your review of sleeper cabs (CM 9-15 March) are far from over.
On 10 March [took a day's holiday to hitch-hike around the Midlands, trying to call in on many of the cafes and truckstops I knew were lining up activities promoting Red Nose Day. Appropriately dressed for the occasion, I intended to get most of my lifts from fellow lorry drivers, and hopefully raise a few quid for charities.
My 161/2 hour day proved to be more successful and enjoyable than I could have anticipated, but it didn't take long to confirm that drivers today are still far too frequently treated badly by transport managers and the companies they work for. One lift given to me from Reading to Cirencester was in a four-year-old day-cabbed Cargo. The driver carried all the survival equipment for three or four nights out a week, and only stopped to make room for me because he needed light relief from his daily grind.
My 15 years as an HGV driver have seen many improvements in cab design and some recognition of the drivers' value to the company. But on my trip I discovered that the abuse directed at us by the tabloids and anti-truck pressure groups is supported by far too many employers.
It's easy for a company to paint a rosy picture to a journalist whose arrival is anticipated. The true picture can only be discovered talking with drivers at work.
T McCaffrey, Blue Tango,
Whitchurch, Bucks.