"Pay More Attention to Selection of Drivers"
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I
" WONDER if we are going too far
with bonus and incentive schemes
instead of ensuring that we have the right type of labour in the first place." This question was asked by Mr. R. F. Block, managing director, Blox Services, Ltd., Morden, when addressing the students on a course on "Delivery Services," organized by the Industrial Welfare Society, in London on Tuesday.
Attended by 90 delegates, the course was devised for transport and personnel managers concerned with the training and welfare of vanmen and delivery salesmen, of whom there are estimated to be 300,000 in Britain.
Mr. Block said that a few years ago he was a great believer in inCentive schemes, but had now dispensed with them in his company's maintenance depot. He now considered it was a better policy to pay a good basic rate and make management responsible for ensuring subsequent efficiency. The operating of a vehicle and of a driver were two entirely different functions, he said. The driver should be under the control of the man who gave him his daily orders so that there would be no doubt as to where his first loyalty lay.
Salesmen and drivers were two separate entities. Where a salesman was not a good driver and the transport manager took appropriate action, he was often told that the man concerned would have to be retained because of his ability as a salesman.
W.. Block doubted whether the cost of being a good salesman, in this context, was either measured or known. It was essential to resolve this conflict between sales and transport divisions.
Advertising Continuously He did not believe that operators considered the future enough when recruiting. Transport managers should be advertising continuously to ensure that the right type of man was selected "iii the fullness of the hour rather than the heat of the moment."
When interviewing prospective drivers, Mr. Block emphasized, it was imperative to tell them precisely what they would have to do, the hours of work they were likely to be employed, and the conditions of employment. This was seldom done, and fault often lay with managements because they did not know the exact work content of the job they had to offer. Slackness in this respect encouraged overtime, and a driver in these circumstances would mike his pay packet what he wanted it to be.
He appreciated, however, that precise determination of work content became increasingly difficult when so many concerns were expanding. Few considered the problems of distribution which followed a sales drive. Mr. Block did not consider that sales could be divorced from the problems of distribution. Unfortunately in many cases work study finished at the loading bay.
When a new driver was engaged, it should be made clear to him what meal facilities would be provided and when, the availability of late parking and how, for example, he could collect his pay after normal hours. His organization had issued an instruction book for drivers covering all aspects of their job, Mr. Block stated.
Good drivers were undoubtedly in short supply, but the pay packet was not everything. Good working conditions were equally important and it was the responsibility of management to provide them.
Unloading was often more important than loading, and too often the platform height of a vehicle was determined only by the height of the loading bank at the dispatch point. When it came to unloading, a driver was often left to his own resources.
The use of such aids as tailboard lifts, small portable pallet trucks, roller shutters and interior racking should be investigated. Security of loads was becoming a major problem, but basically it was connected with the initial selection of the right type of driver.
Manager Must Believe in Human Relations
E. W. BOWLING, education and IVI welfare officer of United Dairies, Ltd., said good morale could be developed among drivers only if those in control believed that good human relations were right in themselves. It was imperative -first to select the right man for the right job and then to ensure proper training. He spoke as the employer of more than 5,000 drivers engaged in berth retail and wholesale delivery of milk and dairy products.
Many companies operated stafftraining schemes, but few -of them extended to transport. In inaugurating such a scheme, it should be realized at the outset that there were two distinct types of commercial-vehicle driver. One was the delivery man, who was a driver first and foremost. The other. was the driver-salesman, who was more concerned with selling.
The contrast in this division could be seen daily on the roads. Whilst the longdistance lorry driver was a good example of courtesy and consideration, this could not always be said of the van roundsman.
In retail distribution, the driver was "the firm" to the great majority of customers, for whom he was their only contact. How such a roundsman spoke or acted could be vital to the prosperity of business.
His appearance was obviously of first importance. There were three methods of ensuring a high and uniform standard of dress. A uniform could be given to the driver, or lent at, say, Is. or Is. 6d. per week, to provide two winter suits and lighter summer clothing. If the driver had a financial interest in the uniform, there was a greater likelihood of a high standard being maintained.
The third method was for the company to provide half the cost of the uniform, which the man then purchased. The disadvantage of this scheme was that it did not always guarantee uniformity.
Creation of Goodwill In the creation of goodwill, the high cost of uniforms for drivers compared favourably with that of advertising by other means. In one of the U.D. depots there was a large mirror in the garage, under which was the notice: "This is how your customers see you."
Whilst many companies maintained a high standard of vehicle appearance, much more could be done to ensure that cabs were kept equally clean and free of unnecessary impedimenta.
Although training schemes could be adopted by large concerns, difficulty arose with smaller organizations, or at small depots. In the case of United Dairies, the seven-day week necessary for milk distribution added further complications.
They had, therefore, inaugurated a one-day training scheme, which was at present limited to salesmen with three to six months' service. It covered such subjects as salesmanship, driving, vehicle costing and the relationship of the transport department to the rest of the company.
Special Problems in Developing Team Spirit yJHEN endeavouring to develop team YW spirit among drivers, said Mr. F. C. Tindall, site personnel manager, T. Wall and Sons, Ltd., special problems arose. In contrast to the factory worker, drivers were naturally independent or otherwise they would notwant that type of employment.
When they were away from direct control, they were still representatives of their company, whether for good or bad. They had limited contacts with managements, but it was still necessary to instil in them that they were members of a team.
Drivers should be selected primarily for independence and resourcefulness, and it was thus unreasonable to expect that they would accept integration readily. Many drivers spent substantial time in the company of drivers of other concerns, and were thus able to exchange information as to the relative conditions of their employment.
Although a good driver had qualities of self reliance, when the occasion did arise for him to contact a manager he expected something more than cursory treatment and required an individual answer to his particular problem.