Sleeker, smoother RHA coming soon?
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E ROAD Haulage Association could be very different in the future entative plans for a streamlined organisation are put into effect, ites ALAN MILLAR.
3y coincidence, as new RHA .ector-general Freddie Plaskett )1( office this week, plans were ing circulated for a restructu r
of the Association, with the ssibility of the 14 existing as being merged into bigger 3ions.
ndustry sources suggest that eryone is at pains to avoid enating any particular area lich might veto the scheme fore it gets off the ground.
rhe possibility of six regions ing created, however, with the isting Scottish and North-west as remaining in their present .m, seems feasible.
Ihe feeling is that the present ucture, in which some areas notably Yorkshire — have iall, ill-staffed offices spread or a relatively small area, is ippropriate to an age of telemmunications.
=ewer offices, each with more iff than the present often oestring establishments, could maintain contact with members and London headquarters by phone and telex. The RHA's North-western Area has already shown the way forward with its merger of the separate Eastern and Western sections into one stronger-staffed area.
Similarly, the Freight Transport Association's five-region structure has proved both costeffective and successful in providing membership services at a local level, without resort to a wide spread of small offices.
Progress towards any restructuring is likely to be cautious, though, with talk at the moment being of a five-year transition from areas to regions. In that way, criticism could be dealt with gradually and constructively.
The areas have been meeting this month to examine the plan, and their observations will be fed back to the RHA national council before any further moves are made.