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matters by John Darker, AMBIM
The future of Freightliners
THE Freightliner system, if it has not quite lived up to the early forecasts of its growth potential, is still one of the brightest jewels in British Transport. In its conception it was far in advance of anything Europe could offer, though it has become increasingly evident that to achieve full potential — and profitability — Freightliners need a map as large as Europe. The Channel Tunnel would provide a welcome springboard.
Post-Beeching market forecasts which hinted that the Freightliner network in Britain could anticipate carrying over 30 million tons of traffic have not been achieved. The present figure would seem to be under 5m tons. It is now accepted that the early estimates were based on the freight tonnages passing between points by road. As rates are charged per container the unit weight of goods consigned is important. Customers do not cheerfully pay for a container that is only one-quarter full in terms of weight or capacity. Some products like potato crisps are too light to travel economically by Freightliner container.
Freightliners Ltd expect to carry around 630,000 containers in 1973 and perhaps another 100,000 in 1974. These figures include "linked" traffic, a term used to identify containers that are shifted from one terminal without a direct service to the desired destination to another terminal with a direct service.
Deep sea bonus On average, customers put 10 tons in domestic Freightliner containers and 15 tons in maritime containers. In broad terms, two-thirds of the movements are domestic and one-third relate to overseas shipments. There are substantial carryings to the ports for the Irish and Continental services and something over one-third of the shipping traffic is said to be "deep sea" — a bonus that was not fully anticipated when the original market surveys were undertaken.
Normal Freightliner trains haul 15 wagons each carrying three 20ft containers or equivalent. A loaded train carries as much as 40 lorries, if it is assumed that each box contains 15 tons. Some trains haul as many as 20 wagons and in theory could carry many more, though the terminals were not designed for the giant, mile-long trains that are common in the United States. On average, 145 Freightliner trains a day operate in the UK. In 1971 60 per cent of all containers carried were capacity loaded. In the last six periods — 13-period accountancy operates within the National Freight Corporation — capacity loading has increased to 70 per cent.
The original Freightliner wagons were designed to carry a maximum of 51 tons — which meant that if the loaded weight of three containers exceeded 51 tons a wagon could only carry two boxes. However, 60-ton wagons are soon to be introduced and this will make the service more flexible and economic — though the more costly wagons will have to be paid for.
Some interesting improvements in the design of special-purpose containers for coil carrying provide for conversion to a standard flat floor container. This innovation should help to promote balanced loading of services — a crucial need, since it is said that the unbalanced services of the Freightliner system exceed the UK's existing geographical traffic imbalances.
Swop body containers of 13ft length — but with ISO fittings at 10ft pitch — are to be introduced shortly. Freightliners Ltd see tremendous possibilities in the movement of swop bodies, whether designed by or on behalf of customers or by arrangement with the company.
Talking recently with Mr L. W. Leppington, Freightliner managing director, I was impressed with his determination to improve the reliability of the service — reliability that has deteriorated since the early days for a variety of reasons. Operating and terminal efficiency provided a theme for the company's management conference this year. There is now a daily operational conference by telephone which provides an opportunity for Freightliners Ltd to hear about rail problems and, in turn, to make representations when there is a risk of serious unpunctuality of services.
Mr Leppington reckoned that revenue lost last year due to the company's defects in manning, organization or labour problems amounted to no more than 4 per cent — or £50,000 in revenue. This compares with a lost revenue of some £900,000 due to the problems of customers in the UK or their trading partners overseas. "The Japanese seamen's strike was the most damaging factor of all."
Loss of revenue I asked Mr Leppington how the company budgeted for loss of revenue due to circumstances beyond its control. In the past, I understand, no provision has been made but in future suitable provision will be made, based on previous experience.
How serious has Freightliners' recent lack of punctuality been? It appears that a quarter of the trains have arrived half an hour late and a quarter more than a half-hour late. Mr Leppington, who was BR's London Midland region's divisional manager when the Freightliner services were introduced, assured me that punctuality was then sacrosanct. "Trains left to time or I wanted to know the reason why."
The practical difficulties of tightening up a service that has slipped are fully appreciated by the company. Customer firms may find it convenient to spend a few more minutes on the loading of a container. If management has power to impose disciplined punctuality on its own staff it is less easy to beat a valued customer over the head — and such methods would be counter-productive.
Rail to road transfer At terminals — there are now 23 and one or two more are in prospect, but the original 50 "was a pipe dream" — some critical theorists may have been misled by the cranemakers' confidence that a rail to road transfer was a three-minute job — or less. Such figures are meaningless when in reality containers are not off-loaded in a neat sequence. Some movements may start at the front of the train and proceed in random order to meet customer requirements. There is simply no chance of
organizing so that vehicles take away containers in a neat sequence. Some containers are needed urgently and others are not wanted until hours later. Freightliners Ltd as the middleman in the operation must cope with what traders want from the• service.
Around 40 per cent of collection and• delivery work is done by Freightliners' own vehicles, 60 per cent by hauliers or own-account firms. There are some 780 Freightliner drivers, mostly ex rail cartage drivers and almost all members of the National Union of Railwaymen. Mr Leppington speaks highly of the responsible attitude in labour relations of the NUR and the staff trade union, the Transport Salaried Staff Association. He sees no advantage to his company if — by some magic wand waving — all road transport staff were members of a single transport union.
Though highly profit oriented and commercial in his approach, Mr Leppington has no thought of savagely hacking the system to win short-term profits. "An eightterminal set up might yield £2 or £3m a year profit but in the long run a larger network will do a lot better."
Critic's views Some critics of Freightliners say that road collections and deliveries beyond a radius of five miles are uneconomic. Mr Leppington derisively pours scorn on this view by pointing out that last year the company made Om over direct costs on c and d work from terminals.
The company's efficiency is being stepped up by undertaking more of its own vehicle maintenance at major terminals. This will save time and empty running to other NFC workshops. No difficulties are envisaged in hiring skilled maintenance staff.
Terminal profitability as an index of management performance has always been a strong feature of the Freightliners' organization. The intense marketing efforts now in hand to improve carryings on lightly loaded legs may reflect an excessive and perhaps misdirected sales effort in the past. "It's now seen that drumming up 1000 boxes in one direction may not help the profitability of the whole system, whatever it does for a particular terminal's revenue," said Mr Leppington. "So the overall effect is now being studied closely."
intercontainer Freightliners Ltd would like to see Intercontainer — the European rail consortium chaired by Mr McKenna, of the BR Board — developed efficiently. They are appreciative of the traffic provided by Pickfords International for the UK services and expect soon to carry traffic won by Pickfords in Europe. As to the prospect of Freightliner containers doing long trips into Europe, this would require a bigger stock of containers, but is not ruled out, in the future.
Mr Leppington runs a tight-knit organization whose morale, I judge, is good enough to cope with present and future challenges.