Clear Out the Clearing Houses ?
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AVIIITE slavery of the motor world IN was the description applied to certain clearing-house operations at a recent gathering of hauliers. Outspoken complaints have been voiced at Association meetings on many occasions, but anyone who considers the position impartially cannot fail to be impressed by the help that the wellmauaged house can offer to the type of operator whose strength lies on the practical, rather than on the administrative, side.
From time to time, the question has arisen as to why no provision was made in the 1933 Act to deal, on some definite basis, with the clearing house. There are many operators who are heartily in favour of some such provision, but, in view of the unexpected developments that sometimes result from legislation, it is not surprising to find that the clearing houses would not view -with approval anything that savoured of official control.
Approved List Needed.
However, strange things have happened with some concerns and it is clear that many reputable houses would favour any arrangement for an approval list which was made by a national association.
Circulation of booklets giving names and addresses of clearing-house memhers of the Association has, I am given to understand, been considered by A.R.O., but, so far, I have seen no evidence of the scheme being put into working order. It would certainly be a step in the right direction to have a list of Association members that could he consulted by operators seeking traffic in towns where they were strangers.
At the same time, if complaints against the clearing houses were to be eliminated, some code of conduct, with expulsion as a possible penalty for contravention of the rules, and a close scrutiny of the credentials of applicants for membership, would be desirable.
• Regarded as an Evil.
If ever this kind of code he developed, mismanaged houses will be forced to mend their ways or drop out. But moving about among members of the industry, one comes to know the operator who believes that it would be a better world if one could clear out the clearing houses. He looks upon them as a completely unnecessary evil, existing only to pluck 10 per cent. from his rightful earnings.
The clearing house is the servant of the operator and, if the need for the servant can be avoided, or another servant can do the work more cheaply, the move is with the operator. Nobody is going to belittle the practical side ; actually, carrying the goods is, of course, the important part!
At the same time, the average ownerdriver would be doing well if he could
provide a complete sales and accounting system at the cost of only 10 per cent, of his total charges. There are many small operators who carry on their own businesses with every success, but it is usually the man who is least fitted for personal canvassing and office work who lacks a connection, and the clearing-house figure almost certainly represents an economy, as compared with the cost of loss of time, should he carry out the administrative side himself.
As it is so often said that clearing houses secure commission for doing nothing, it is worth while reviewing some of the services that are provided. First, there is the sales side. It is not just hick that instructions for haulage come flowing into some offices. They are canvassed for, argued for, negotiated for, and then are obtained only because a system has been built up, upon which the customer can rely not only when a particular man happens to be in town, but to-day, to-morrow, or any other day.
Prompt Payment.
When the traffic has been carried the operator draws his money ; if he be dealing with the right class of establishment, cash will be available at fortnightly or monthly intervals. But the clearing house that sees its cheque at the end of the month is fortunate. Probably it must stand out of the money for several weeks longer. Accounts have to be rendered, letters written, perhaps calls made. When all this work is included, the commission ceases to look such easy money.
Service to the operator, in many instances, does not end here, for the important houses will offer other facilities. One in Manchester, with which I am acquainted, has a large yard, petrol pumps, a recreation or rest room, up-to-date toilet accommodation and other features that help to make life amenable. So extensive an establishment, it is only fair to add, is the exception and not the rule.
From a transport manager's point of view, the clearing house can be a valuable aid. Lorries will be sent only if they be in sound mechanical condition, are clean and have a suitable type of body. More important, an efficient organization will arrange loads to anywhere. The delivery department needing loads carried to out-of-the-way places
might frequently find the railway a better proposition than wasting time in hunting for the man who has the right size of vehicle free and is willing to make the journey. When the clearing house will track down what is wanted, it must mean that traffic goes by road that would otherwise be railbome.
Charges that they commonly pay rates substantially less than those prevailing on the routes concerned are sometimes levelled against the clearing houses, but it is open to operators to refuse such offers. Any action by an association or associations would obviously include general provisos on the matter of charges. All this is bound up with the stabilization of rates.
A Firm Stand.
If and when they be stabilized, the whole industry—not merely one part— will have to take a firm stand. When there is a price war, it is anybody's fight. I have been satisfied that there exists a proportion of cases where operators, having been introduced to regular work, have approached the principals with quotations just 10 per cent. less than these same concerns were paying the clearing houses! One man adopting that kind of procedure tends to damage not so much the agents for the traffic, hut the whole body of his fellow operators.
Kept in its proper place, the clearinghouse method of exchange between the buyer and seller of transport provides a necessary and desirable service, especially to the smaller business, susceptible, as it is, either to an inadequate " office" side or to disproportionate expense in keeping sales and accounts up to scratch. But where there are signs of advantage being taken of this susceptibility, the agent who is seeking undue gain should be eliminated. A national body that could curb activities by withdrawing approval would meet the need, for the loss of status would mean the loss of operators and of customers.
"One Born Every Minute."
Occasionally, one hears of men who apparently have entered into such contractual obligations as will effectively prevent them from enjoying most of the fruits of their labours and, at the same time, will keep them under the control of other parties. If all that be said is true, one is forcibly reminded of the old saying about there being "one born every minute,"
Difficulties in this direction have probably largely ceased to exist, but there are signs—quite unconnected with clearing houses—that the less astute may encounter in certain districts contract-licence proposals in which the scales of business will be weighted against the practical man. That is the direction which it is more important for the operator to watch with care.