No Lights Under Bushels
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IN this series last week comment was made on the selling of a transport service. However reliable the service provided by hauliers may be, although obviously the prime basic asset, this of itself is not enough. Admittedly the excellence of a service tends to be self-advertising in the sense that satisfied customers may well recommend it to other potential users. But, even so, more positive action has to be taken to ensure that the level of traffic carried is at least maintained, if not increased.
As pointed out last week, if this were not done the pattern of the business as a whole might be unduly dominated by the influence of the traffic provided by the original customers, however important these may undoubtedly be. The volume of traffic provided by such major customers could have the effect not only of determining the areas to which the haulier provided regular services but also, in extreme cases, the location of any branch depots he might set up.
It has unfortunately been a failing of some hauliers in the past that whilst they have had adequate practical knowledge of the technical aspects of operating vehicles, their commercial experience, in the early stages at least, was limited, almost to the point of not even realizing the need for such experience. As a result there could well be an unbalance of traffic or the acceptance of traffic for which the haulier was not in a position to carry efficiently and economically.
This, and similar situations, can be avoided only if the haulier is both capable, in the practical sense, of providing a satisfactory transport service and has adequate knowledge of the cost of operating the service he provides. But even with these two basic prerequisites he must still be able to bring the service he provides to the notice of potential customers. No matter how busily he may be engaged on today's operations he must still give thought for tomorrow.
MORE NEED FOR PUBLICITY
• Recent and pending developments in the overall pattern of transport in this country will undoubtedly increase the need for hauliers to give adequate time and attention to publicity of the services they provide. It is the declared intention of British Railways to win back a substantial proportion a traffic which they have lost to road transport. Although it is a matter for conjecture just what success will attend the proposed introduction of Liner Trains and any other forms of containerization, it is the expressed objective of the railways to exploit the favourable characteristics of rail movement. Whilst any political implications of such pending changes are outside the scope of this article, one factor is certainly relevant. When the railways are sure that they will be able to meet the expected demand for any new services they may provide, they will mount a major sales campaign. This can reasonably be expected to he backed by all the resources of a large organization such as BrAish Railways in the field of market research, publicity and personal canvassing.
Whatever may be the comparative merits of road or rail services in any particular circumstance it would be an unfortunate decision for all parties if, through lack of adequate publicity on the part of the road haulier, traffic which he could have carried most economically was allowed to be conveyed by other means.
Last week in this series it was pointed out that in addition to the costs directly incurred in the operation of a vehicle (standing costs and running costs) there were also overhead en establishment costs. These arose as a result of running a business as a whole and could not be individually attribute° to particular vehicles.
WIDE RANGE OF OVERHEADS
Although many of the items of overhead costs may be small in amount they cover a wide range and vary considerably according to the size of fleet and type of operation. Convenient groupings would include management, office, garage and store, warehousing, branch depots, sales, professional services, auxiliary fleets (including maintenance replacement vehicles and breakdown recovery vehicles) and sundry items. Sales, in this context, can include such items as representatives' salaries and commission, car expenses, advertising, entertainment and gratuities.
Obviously, before a haulier launches a further drive for new traffic he will have previously determined in his own mind the type of expansion which best fits his type of business. In the less populated areas such decisions will be largely determined for him by the economics of his particular geographical area. Thus in rural areas, whilst there may be an opportunity to diversify the traffic he carries, for examp!e horticulture, grain or livestock, they will still all be basically dependent on the prosperity of agriculture. In this context, incidentally, Government plans to encourage new industries in such areas should be of considerable advantage to this type of haulier, particularly as there is often little competition from other forms of transport in these districts.
In more industrialized areas, however. the haulier may well have a difficult problem, when determining the next step in expansion of his .business, as to the direction in which this should he made. Assuming, as is often the case, that the haulier's existing fleet consists of platform vehicles it would be an understandable preference to continue to look for traffic which could be carried on such vehicles. If, however, this resulted in the haulier being even more committed to a particular company or industry it could prove a wrong decision in the long term, though apparently convenient initially.
When the taking on of new traffic is under consideration, possibly with the necessity to purchase a new type of vehicle-say vans or bulkers—the haulier must he capable of making an adequate survey as to just how much profitable traffic is likely to remain available over a sufficiently long period to justify the purchase of whatever vehicles arc required. Should such vehicles be so specialized as to limit their versatility then some form of lone-term contract would be necessary. But, even so, there still remain types of vehicles which, though not as versatile as standard platform vehicles, are nevertheless usable for a range of traffic and customers. The growth of the advertising industry has been one of the notable post-war developments and it is unfortunate that the efforts of a small haulier in this direction could so easily be misdirected as to be of little direct value if adequate consideration has not been given to this matter. Both because of the relatively limited scale of operations of most small or medium sized hauliers (as compared with the sale of some popular consumer products on a nationwide scale) and the fact that it is a service and not a commodity which the haulier has to offer, it is essential that any advertising of such services should be directed to relatively small groups of potential customers. Anything on a wider scale would almost invariably miss its mark. But even, in extreme cases, if it did not, then the haulier himself might well be in difficulty in dealing with inquiries from such a distance that it would be uneconomic to provide a service. A specific claim to carry particular types of traffic over given routes will have a more positive ring to potential customers than the more common claim to carry anything, anywhere. Particularly is this relevant to the railways' avowed policy of " horses for courses ".
In this connection, whilst the vague generalization of "anything, anywhere" is to be condemned, it is advisable not to go to the other extreme when setting up in haulage by giving the company a name so parochial as to cast doubt in the mind of a potential customer as to the extent of transport facilities provided.
Whilst bearing this aspect in mind regarding the name of the company, the advantage of a short title is of particular advantage to a haulier when applied to the livery of his vehicles. If the attractiveness of such vehicles is to be a positive advertising value, then obviously under modern traffic conditions the effect must be as immediate as the occasibn is brief. There is neither need nor occasion for a major portion of the sides or rear of a vehicle to be covered with signwriting which goes largely unread. It is significant in this respect that the largest industrial and commercial organizations, with access to expert advice on the subject, choose the minimum to achieve the maximum effect.
In keeping with a policy of maintaining a smart and attractive fleet of vehicles as a form of advertising, there is an increasing practice of providing the driver, and mate if carried, with a distinctive uniform. Not only has this a valuable psychological effect on the staff concerned but it is reassuring to the customer whose goods are being entrusted to the haulier. In contrast to other trades and industries the lorry driver is often the sole contact between haulier and customer—at least on a day-to-day basis. Consequently, for practical purposes, the image of a transport operator is largely dependent upon the attractive turn-out of vehicle and driver. Any claims made in the abstract, whether via direct advertising or canvassing, could be completely nullified by failure to attend to this more positive form of advertising.
When canvassing personally for new traffic it will be reasonable to expect that the trader or industrialist, particularly with the smaller concern not justifying a transport department in its own right, is obviously an expert on his own particular product but not so on transport. Equally he will look upon transport as an ancillary matter and consequently devote barely sufficient time to it. It is therefore imperative that, before an interview to discuss possible business, the haulier should acquire all possible knowledge as to the products he proposes to carry. This would have a threefold purpose. The haulier would obviously be certain that he had both the vehicles and services necessary for the movement of such products, or alternatively could providethemat reasonably short notice; such foreknowledge would be reassuring to the prospective customer; and time at the interview could then be devoted largely to the precise matching of transport services to the customer's requirements.
If the haulier is in a sufficient way of business it would be an advantage on such occasions for him to have with him a book of photographs of the types of vehicle he can supply, particularly where alternative bodies are available.