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1,o-existence in Haulage By Ashley Taylor, A.M.I.R.T.E.
ionalization Proceeds Smoothly ! Area from Aberdeen SouthTraders Expect Lower Rates: B.R.S. Still Strong
IN Aberdeen, of which area I shall have more to say later, trade and industry are expecting immediate financial advantage from the removal of the shackles in which the freeenterprise roadhaulier has been suffering. In Glasgow, I asked Mr. James Barrie, of John Barrie (Contractors), Ltd., national chairman of the Road Haulage Association, for his summing-up of the situation.
He ;old me that not a single complaint of transport disruption had been received from the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The Road Haulage Association had made their offices available to the industrialists and were always ready to put them in touch with men who could provide road transport facilities of any kind.
"The sellers of transport," said Mr. Barrie, "are unwilling sellers, and whilst carrying through the legal obligations of the Act, they are not implementing the intention. However, over the past year there has been a boom in industry with the result that all re-entering haulage have had a fair amount of traffic available. All this work has been performed without disruption of the operations of the ordinary trader.
Competitive But Economic
"in Scotland it is fair to say that rates have been placed on a competitive but economic basis generally. Up to the present, British Road Services have only been streamlining their vehicle fleet and although their strength has been reduced by a substantial number of %machines, the process has obviously not completely undermined their capabilities, so that some of the most attractive business propositions are still to come.
"There is a wonderful opportunity for road transport to prove its worth to trade and industry and, through their membership of local chambers of commerce in many districts, hauliers have been able to show new openings to their business friends. The change has opened up new possibilities for the transport manager who is now in a position to be selective in a competitive market and so, far more than during the period of nationalization, he will be able to prove his worth to his own industry."
At the time of my writing these words only about a fifth of the 1,150 E6
vehicles included in the Special Scottish List had been sold, thus most of the big changes have yet to come. Before disposal commenced there were over 3,500 B.R.S. vehicles in Scotland and of these it was decided to retain 425 for operation from Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow and Kirkcaldy. In their booklet "Road Haulage Disposal in Scotland," the British Transport Commission and Road Haulage Disposal Board stressed that the arrangements described therein provided for the satisfying of he needs of the "small man" at the same time paying full regard to ensuring suitable road haulage facilities for the more remote and sparsely populated areas of Scotland.
Long-term Trends
Before returning to the Aberdeen area to take up the story of what is happening there today, it may be well to examine probable long-term trends. Authorities who have given close attention to the problem appear to be agreed that there must be a strong movement of population from the West of Scotland to the East, and for this reason it is of some interest that an important conference regarding the situation in Fife, held during December, emphasized the need of better transport between Fife and the south, a problem that could be eased by the construction of Tay and Forth road bridges.
-Statements made after the conference indicated that delegates regarded the present communications as inadequate to the scale of industry in the area.
On the basis of the published plans, there would appear to be no retainable fleet in Aberdeen. At the time of my visit, none of the big units in the north-east had been sold and I gathered that B.R.S. had always had sufficient vehicles to meet commitments. The principal traffic of the 139-vehicle unit with headquarters at Aberdeen, is fish, paper from the mills, granite, engineering and agricultural products.
To the north, Peterhead, with a fleet about half the size of Aberdeen, carries chiefly fish, foodstuffs, granite and agricultural goods. In prenationalization days, the Charles Alexander organization had a big slake in the long-distance traffic to and from the Aberdeen area. Mr. Alexander has continued to have strong interests in the haulage business and in Scottish circles there has been some speculation regarding possible expansion of his current activities. He was among those in the field for the main unit, but none of the tenders for this lot was accepted.
In most cases where units have been sold they have been added to the current fleets of existing operators so that trade and industry have enjoyed satisfactory continuity of service. In the past there seems to have been a certain stability in the haulage industry in the Aberdeen area, and I think it is true to say that for a number of years operators have substantially adhered to an agreed schedule of rates.
That such a structure was in existence was well known to customers, most of whom have become acclimatized to the idea that the scale was fixed and bargaining was unlikely to yield any profit.
Aberdeen and places north are not blessed with any large number of industrial transport managers and the ordering of requirements is in many cases the responsibility of directors, sales managers or other senior officials. For that reason it is rather harder than usual to obtain a consensus of opinion on the question of denationalization. The main hope expressed is that free-enterprise longdistance haulage will materialize in the form of local men who will closely identify themselves with local industries.
B.R.S. Satisfactory
There was no great amount of dissatisfaction in evidence regarding theState-controlled services and in some cases there were questions as to whether independent hauliers would settle claims so fairly and promptly as B.R.S.
Running southward from Aberdeen the next big unit on the Special Scottish List was at Forfar, just north of Dundee, the latter being a centre in which B.R.S. will retain a branch or branches. The Arbroath depot forms part of the Forfar unit and there are also separate units at Brechin, Perth, and Meigle, that are regarded as suitable for operation in conjunction with the headquarters in question.
Speaking of the local situation, Mr. W. Callander, of the Cunmont Quarry and Contracting Co., Ltd., Forfar, said: "Businessmen here are conscious that from B.R.S. Angus Group they are obtaining service of a high standard and undoubtedly superior to that which is given in many other parts of the country. We employ up to 30 B.R.S. lorries each day in the busy season and have lieen very satisfied." Mr. Callander told me that as work in the local unit's transport office continued until 9.30 p.m., it was possible to place orders until after 8 o'clock in the evening for execution early the following day. Activity was resumed before 6 a.m.
Mr. D. Callander, who built up the business on which the B.R.S. headquarters is based, said that farmers and
3thers had been forced to take up licences by the heavy charges made or long-distance haulage under lationalizati on. The Callander 3rganization used to run local as Nell as long-distance transport but it appears that many former customers lave now gone over to ancillary veration.
The Cunmont company have 20 :licence vehicles of their own but iire extensively in addition. I gather hat, having acquired other business mallets, Mr. D. Callander is unlikely o interest himself again in the laulage side.
The units of which Forfar is the :entre have a total of 127 vehicles. kctivities include a large amount of loping work, carriage of quantities af cement for the hydro-electric chemes, and transport of timber md agricultural products.
In this busy territory there would ippear to be sufficient traffic to keep 11 the available facilities reasonably msy, but already there are signs of .ates being slashed. In some quarters
it was suggested that the object of this action was not to cut out other hauliers but to regain traffic that had been lost to the ancillary fleets. Whatever the aim of this move the result is obvious.
One businessman told me that his company had been approached with successive offers of increasing percentages off the accepted figures. He said it was known that in some cases small operators had incurred heavy liabilities in the purchase of vehicles and were anxious to maintain their incomes.
Transport managers in the Edinburgh district with whom I discussed denationalization were frankly optimistic regarding the service they would receive and the rates they could expect. After the sales of B.R.S. vehicles, a definite shortage in the supply of vans seems to have been fele by suppliers of some commodities in that locality, and at times open lorries have had to be accepted even when unsuitable in certain respects. The question of the limitation of liability by B.R.S. caused complaint among manufacturers of the more valuable goods and I was informed that, hearing of this difficulty, one independent operator had offered cover up to £18,000 per load. A later impression from that district is that there are already signs that the New Year's freedom has produced substantial reductions in rates in south-east Scotland.
On Clydeside there is a vast concentration of industry which has been served and assisted for many years by road transport. In so wide and varied a territory one finds, as in other parts of like character, that almost anything can be true. Discounting numerous contradictory statements. I would say that in general the vehicles that have been sold by B.R.S. appear to be well employed. There seems to be no lack of traffic and Mr. L. I. Stokoe, the R.H.A. Scottish Area Secretary, told me he had heard no complaints of poor rates. Certainly I came across no evidence of any disruption in traffic. From some trading and manufacturing organizations there would appear to be strong support for the retention of many of the facilities that the State-controlled organization has built up in Glasgow for, to a large extent, users of transport seem already to have attached themselves to the sides they are intending to support.
Saturation Point?
Those who side with free enterprise have plenty of facilities from which to choose and, except by new purchases, it seems unlikely that many more customers can be wooed away from the State organization.
My impression is that traffic has not always followed the vehicles that have been sold. In these circumstances I have not been surprised to hear of scattered cases where small men have been wanting to resell units in a short time. In certain instances inexperienced men seem to have acquired finance to assist with purchases but have not allowed for the time lag that must occur between the initiation of a new business, with its attendant expenses, and the commencement of income.
In passing I would say that on the average not less than 10 weeks will elapse. Any attempt to work on a week-to-week basis is, so to speak, a hand-to-mouth matter that often leads to drastically cut rates for quick cash.
Big-scale Operation
• Major purchasers have commenced operations covering a large area of south-west Scotland. What was substantially the Caledonian Group has been taken over by Road Services (Caledonia), Ltd., of which company Mr. T. Atkin is managing director.
The headquarters are situated at Dumfries where an 83-vehicle unit was based and to this fleet have been added 24 machines located at Moffat and Abington, the latter premises on the north-south main route providing the organization with an emergency workshop.
The former B.R.S. Ayrshire Group manager, Mr. D. McKinnon, has formed D. McKinnon (Transport), Ltd., with head offices at Kilmarnock, for the purpogt of continuing the work performed before nationalization and nearly 50 vehicles have so far been acquired.
South of Edinburgh at Hawick, in the Border Country, alarm has been expressed at the possibility of shortage of road transport for local requirements. This is the centre of F8 an important Scottish knitwear industry which employs approximately 3,600 workers and recorded a total export figure of £3,800,000 during 1953-54. At over £1,000 per head, this is claimed as a record for individual effort in Great Britain.
After calling attention to the closure of the B.R.S. depot at Hawick, the South of Scotland Chamber of Commerce recently initiated an investigation into the possibility of business being affected by transport difficulties, which it was thought might arise in consequence of the progress of disposal.
As elsewhere, the pattern of transport in Scotland is undergoing change, and its new design is as likely to be governed by economic and social conditions as by anything connected with denationalization. What may be regarded as a straw in the wind is the suggestion put forward by Sir Patrick Dollan, at an Institute of Transport meeting, that a transport board should be set up to operate all road and rail services in the Glasgow and the West of Scotland area.
Co-operation between the corpora lion, British Railways, and the local bus operators, was urged pending the establishment of such a pool. Obviously the speaker, had passenger matters more particularly in mind on the occasion in question but the idea is closely related to others which I heard in various places north of the Border, All were directed in one way or another towards the setting of some form of Home Rule for transport in Scotland. Change is in the air and before all is complete those engaged in the haulage industry must be prepared to ride out some storms. At the moment I feel it would be a rash individual who essayed any forecast of the shape that Scottish road transport will have assumed in 10 years' time.
Indeed, important changes may come within the next two months, for five of the units unsold in the first special Scottish list have been reoffered, presumably with some hope of their being sold. They comprise an 84-vehicle unit at Aberdeen, a 62vehicle unit at Peterhead and Fraserburgh, and smaller units at Cambuslang, Kelso and Perth.