• In 1988 Britain's road transport industry faced war on
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all fronts. Just take a flick through past copies of Commercial Motor and you will read of unprovoked attacks, night curfews, rations, mutinies, invasion plans and weapons developments. Make no mistake, road transport last year was not for the faint hearted.
UNPROVOKED ATTACKS
The year opened with an entirely unprovoked attack on operations from Peter "Mad Max" Bottomley. Even before last year's Christmas decorations had been packed away he was to be seen hurtling into a political no-mans-land, where he unleashed his surprise attack. Taking careful aim at entirely the wrong adversary, Bottomley announced that operators should be fined for their drivers' speeding offences. (much like making Mrs Thatcher pay for Mrs Curries pronouncements).
Bottomley's attack was shot down on all sides, but hauliers braced themselves. From bitter experiences they knew a spring offensive was a real possibility.
Sure enough, despite strong defensive fire from the industry's RHA and FTA artillery divisions, Nigel "the Refrigerator" Lawson reached into his arsenal and drew out two of his most feared weapons — budget VED and fuel tax rises.
Ever mindful of the importance of propaganda in warfare, Lawson chose to unleash these weapons undercover. There was no announcement, no warning. The first most hauliers knew of the damage was when they read the report by Commercial Motor's war correspondent.
PROPAGANDA WAR
A propaganda war of a different kind blazed uncontrollably in the early part of the year.
The giant railway empire, so long the defender of newspaper supply lines, was reeling from a sniper attack by an explosive Australian company and rival incursions from a British firm whose recruits were drawn from the railway union.
In January, a railway spokesman bearing a strange resemblance to Neville Chamberlain, announced: "I have in my hand a piece of the newspaper contract." Unfortunately for him, history repeated itself, and hostilities intensified. British Rail finally relinquished its control of newspaper supply lines in July.
COLD WAR
Hostilities have yet to cease in the propaganda war, however. The two opposing generals now share the spoils of victory, but they continue to squabble over whose share is largest. There has also been a sighting of a small railway resistance movement led by a newsagent, who was heard to sing: "We'll meet a train, don't know where, don't know when, but I hope we'll get Mail. Star and Sun Today."
FORTIFICATIONS
With all these hostilities going on and the country suffering under repeated attacks from overseas aggressors, the British authorities have chosen to fortify our ports. Massive new weighbridges are being installed at all Britain's RO-RO ports to block any invasion plans by heavy tank (or trailer) forces.
LONDON BESIEGED
As we predicted last year, there have been several casualties in the on-going siege of London.
Throughout the year the industry's two divisions have surrounded the capital, but the beseiged London Boroughs Transport Committee has taken the odd pot-shot at hapless hauliers.
In the case of Spalding Haulage the LBTC scored its first direct hit.
A night curfew exists in the beseiged capital, but this is proving increasingly unpopular among the LBTC ranks. Frequent intelligence reports suggest there is an uprising against the curfew. The LBTC leader talks of spreading his curfew to cities throughout Europe, but he faces the real prospect of a mutiny. Meanwhile, at home, the LBTC continues to train the guns of its silent air-brake weapons at unknowing operators,
MUTINY
This last year saw a full-blown power struggle erupt on the good ship Bus and Coach Council. Recently the ship has recruited many new sailors. They are enthusiastic, but have new ideas and many garnered their experience on smaller vessels, where conditions are radically different.
Small tiffs behind closed doors quickly escalated until there was a major disagreement about the direction the ship should take. Dennis "Captain Bligh" Quin was cast free in an open boat after 14 years at the helm. Michael "Fletcher Christian" Sedgely turned down command. Instead, he and his shipmates have chosen Veronica Palmer to set their course. She takes the helm in the new year.
RATIONS
Bitter fighting meant that all resources were channelled to the war effort, but inevitably shortages developed and rationing became the norm. Operators had to save their ration books for many weeks before they could get hold of a new supply truck. Tyres, like nylons before them, were sought on the black market.
Supply shortages were exacerbated by a shortage of skilled personnel. A Commercial Motor survey revealed that more than half Britain's operators were unable to recruit experienced HGV drivers. Transport managers too are in short supply, particularly in distribution.
One benefit of the shortage, which harks back to the last war, is that operators are realising the potential of women in road transport. A second Commercial Motor survey showed that only 10% of road transport workers are women, but this figure is growing steadily.
NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS
In all 1988 was certainly not a good year for a life on the ocean wave. With the sad memory of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster still fresh in their minds, hauliers returned gingerly to the ferries only to become embroiled in the mammoth engagement between P&O cruisers and NUS picket steamers. The struggle took on epic proportions, as did the queue of trucks at Dover. Eventually hundreds of stranded truckers combined to form a supremely effective peace-making force.
The supplies got through and Britain heaved a sigh of relief.
TRENCH WARFARE/THE GREAT ESCAPE
Contractors on the Channel Tunnel admitted they were almost a kilometre behind schedule. Some pundits believe the delay is due to problems keeping the decoy wooden exercise horse on the sea-bed.
WAR LEADERS
In any conflict certain people rise to the occasion as natural leaders: 1988 was a vintage year for new leaders.
Cliff Groves, for long i/c propaganda for Scania, switched to become commander-in-chief of Steyr' s land forces UK.
In the independent Ybung Entrepreneur of the Year battle, Gary Rees from North London overcame the handicaps of very poor eyesight and consequent reading and writing difficulties to romp to victory. Rees' business, Harvest Trucking, is expanding fast in the north of England and abroad, helped, no doubt, by exposure in more than 30 publications during 1988, including Commercial Motor.
At the Road Haulage Association, of course, it is well known that road transport is a battlefield.
The organisation chooses retired MajorGenerals to Ell its top position of directorgeneral. This October Major-General Bryan Colley stepped into the shoes of another former army head of transport, Freddie Plaskett. Meanwhile new chairman, flying ace Roy Bowles, was appointed at the RHA National Occupation in Portugal.
COMBINED OPERATIONS/ STRATEGIC SURRENDERS
For some in the industry the acrid stench of battle proved too much. After many years as a heavy haulage division. Pountains turned to lighter considerations.
There were more than 100 casualties at Independent Express and Tuffnells when Transport Development Group deciaed to merge its ailing parcels companies. Bunzl Group took the unusual step of selling its successful and profitable York subsidiary to its managers at a time when the company held a tremendously strong strategic position in the market.
In fact, trailer and bodybuilding firms seemed most prone to nerves in 1988, with major names like Craven Tasker, Crane Fruehauf, Boalloy, and Motor Panels all seeking safety and expansion in the arms of new owners.
A strange buyout manoeuvre took place at Leyland Bus. No sooner had the ice dried on the contract transferring all troops and equipment to Leyland Bus leaders than Viking invaders took control, armed to the teeth with persuasive money. Volvo's acquisition of Leyland Bus was not without casualties, however. The Lion and the Royal Tiger were consigned to the great wildlife safari park in the sky.
PEACE TREATIES
A swift look at the news events in the latter weeks of 1988 reveals few prospects for peace. Perhaps the greatest potential for negotiations exist between the road transport industry and Department of Transport, which has finally recognised there are major gaps in the country's strategic route network.
The Department is reportedly flummoxed about the source of the gaps. Doesn't it know there's a war on? El by Richard Scrase