gingerfold:
Brian Harris… a proper fleet… proper drivers… and Brian himself, a true haulage man and character.
Second… our own esteemed Bewick, started as an owner driver and built up a large successful business.
Worst… too many to list because I would have to consider the entire package of fleet, business management and ethics. And that would disqualify Hugarocamion from being anywhere near the best … rate cutters that spoiled the job for many UK hauliers that did Eastern European work.
Rate cutters?
If I work harder, and am more competitive than Joe Bloggs , that’s because I ain’t afraid of hard work, and ain’t a greedy profiteer.
If Joe Soap undercuts me, that’s because he probably runs bent, and is a mug carving up the job.
[emoji3]
I always thought that Sayers of Newbury had a very good looking fleet of nice Scanias.
I never had much to do with them, but purely on looks, they’re up there.
More recent KC from Poole have very distinctive trucks. Not quite to my own taste, but well done, none the less.
Franglais:
gingerfold:
Brian Harris… a proper fleet… proper drivers… and Brian himself, a true haulage man and character.
Second… our own esteemed Bewick, started as an owner driver and built up a large successful business.
Worst… too many to list because I would have to consider the entire package of fleet, business management and ethics. And that would disqualify Hugarocamion from being anywhere near the best … rate cutters that spoiled the job for many UK hauliers that did Eastern European work.
Rate cutters?
If I work harder, and am more competitive than Joe Bloggs , that’s because I ain’t afraid of hard work, and ain’t a greedy profiteer.
If Joe Soap undercuts me, that’s because he probably runs bent, and is a mug carving up the job.
[emoji3]
There is a vast difference between being competitive and blatant rate cutting. If a company is state subsidised then it can obtain work at undercut rates to keep its drivers employed. After all Hungarocamion was a job creation project. Hard work or otherwise has absolutely nothing to do with it in this instance.
Stirlands of Nottingham as best contender probably the best Transport company to work for in the entire Midlands region regarding pay and conditions
Not many people left it was like being part of a big family
It even had its own social club organising family day trips and outings and more than half a dozen social dos a year including great Christmas parties
The worst RH Freight of Nottingham flash lorries paid drivers peanuts and running bent was the norm a typical “if you don’t like it “ attitude “there’s the gate” there was always another cab happy muppet to jump into the hot seat
I realise that this thread is basically about family firms in road haulage so my nomination probably doesn’t count, but the best actual company I worked for was Tilcon! A very well kept fleet, serviced monthly with absolutely no expense spared (several local hauliers regularly raided our scrap bin to keep their Fodens supplied with parts!) and trucks replaced every six years. A large fleet of cars and vans, again serviced regularly and the cars were washed and vacuumed out weekly, plus refilled with fuel so that the drivers could use them at home or on holiday. There were several minibus’s provided to bring all the workforce in from Ashbourne, Matlock etc, father in law drove one and we used it for a camping holiday in Wales. Some staff had a car provided to get them to work and then the use of either a van or Land Rover to use when they got there. A decent canteen with hot food, plus visiting drivers could use it. Three different social clubs with dinner/dances, whist drives, darts/dominoes evenings etc, they really looked after their employees plus it was also the best driving job around the area with a waiting list. And then it all ended when they were taken over. 
Pete.
^^^^^^^
Back in the day there were several own-account fleets that would stand comparison for being classed as very smart and well run by companies that took great pride in their transport operations, often providing drivers with smart uniforms and very good terms of employment. Just a few I can think of are:
Whitbread
Bowaters
Pilkington Glass
Shell-Mex and B.P.
Ranks Flour
I understand what you are saying about own account fleets but in their hay day the cost of running an own account set up was miniscule within the total cost base of large manufacturing/ production Companies. It was only when the economy started “tightening up” that “The Suits” in these large conglomerates started casting around to see where savings could be made and guess what, right on the end of the gang plank was their “in house” “featherbedded” transport operation ! I had first hand involvement in this transition when Bewick Transport took over two “in house” Paper Mill transport departments. It was spelled out to me that the Mills made and sold paper and should not be into running their own inefficient transport operations with the attendant capital requirement not to mention the maintenance and employment of idle back Drivers ! I’m not clued up on current trends but I doubt whether attitudes will have changed much since my time. Cheers Dennis.
There could have been other reasons too Dennis.
Going back a fair time, my father was promotions manager for a large Biscuit & Food manufacturer, they would give ‘Gifts’ to the best performing supermarket & shop managers, good gifts too, TVs & the like.
Using in house transport only about 90% of a 40’ Box would ever reach the intended recipients, so I got a call to handle this traffic, after that 100% was delivered
Another contract I picked up at Bewick Transport was with Ross/Youngs of Grimsby in 1984. They replaced their 90 strong in house tractor unit fleet with 45 ( yes 45!) Contractor units and they did the same work as their in house had been doing Classic !! Cheers Dennis.
Best Armstrong World Industries [ Armstrong Cork ]
Worst CEMEX
pushrod47
BEWICK,
[[It was spelled out to me that the " Mills made and sold paper" and should not be into running their own inefficient transport operations. ]]
THAT what you have just quoted above and i have was exactly 100% what the T.G.W.was trying to STOP large firms doing their own transport in the early 1970s now look where the road haulage is …all the C license companies, were not road haulage, there was a very big difference from a C license OWN ACCOUNT driver, to a [ A ] license GENERAL HAULAGE, big boots,■■■■■■■■■ hands,beer-swilling, heavy smoking, greasy hat and overhauls,good all-round drivers, away from home.
own account ,office hours companies they just got rid of the road haulage companies contracted to do their work as road haulers.
Re: The best fleet ever?
Bewick no way was i trying to have a “punt” at you or any particular hauler but you know your self that was what it was like.
On a different note today my wife and I received our first Government food box it was a surprise,the boxes are very good, just like when i used to shop for a trip away .
Because my wife is classed a vulnerable c.o.p.d.our local health center must have put her name forward, and yes it was accepted we had no choice it was outside the front door , you can opt-out of the scheme if you have another source of supply of food i have mastered Sainsbury on line;; Doing the customs for the first time in many of the countries i and hundreds of brit drivers used by stealth esp the middle east men…sainsburys online come very close to all that Hassel, we will get our stores.
gingerfold:
Franglais:
gingerfold:
Brian Harris… a proper fleet… proper drivers… and Brian himself, a true haulage man and character.
Second… our own esteemed Bewick, started as an owner driver and built up a large successful business.
Worst… too many to list because I would have to consider the entire package of fleet, business management and ethics. And that would disqualify Hugarocamion from being anywhere near the best … rate cutters that spoiled the job for many UK hauliers that did Eastern European work.
Rate cutters?
If I work harder, and am more competitive than Joe Bloggs , that’s because I ain’t afraid of hard work, and ain’t a greedy profiteer.
If Joe Soap undercuts me, that’s because he probably runs bent, and is a mug carving up the job.
[emoji3]
There is a vast difference between being competitive and blatant rate cutting. If a company is state subsidised then it can obtain work at undercut rates to keep its drivers employed. After all Hungarocamion was a job creation project. Hard work or otherwise has absolutely nothing to do with it in this instance.
A bit of a clash of overriding economic policy here. If Hungarocamion, as the other poster says above, used to subject its drivers to an unproductive 12 month training course, it was obviously reliant on state funding. There are stories on the Middle East threads about GB drivers having repairs done for nothing in Eastern Bloc countries, because transport costs were shared, as were the benefits of goods moving about. I would guess that a Hungarian driver would blanch at the cost of a breakdown in GB, just as us Europeans would, to be presented with an invoice for medical care in the US.
Those state-run firms might have resembled job creation schemes- work was done slowly and deliberately, shoulders were shrugged, profligacy abounded. It was inefficient, using minute-by-minute, ounce-by-ounce accounting methods. Was it less efficient than our maximum consumption model, in which stuff is made, consumed and made again, as fast as possible, and everyone extracts ten percent, including numerous parasites? I doubt it- as you say, when the two economic models met head-on, Hungarocamion was able to offer their professionally-qualified drivers, in top-of-the-range equipment, at a winning price.
peggydeckboy:
BEWICK,
[[It was spelled out to me that the " Mills made and sold paper" and should not be into running their own inefficient transport operations. ]]
THAT what you have just quoted above and i have was exactly 100% what the T.G.W.was trying to STOP large firms doing their own transport in the early 1970s now look where the road haulage is …all the C license companies, were not road haulage, there was a very big difference from a C license OWN ACCOUNT driver, to a [ A ] license GENERAL HAULAGE, big boots,■■■■■■■■■ hands,beer-swilling, heavy smoking, greasy hat and overhauls,good all-round drivers, away from home.
own account ,office hours companies they just got rid of the road haulage companies contracted to do their work as road haulers.
Re: The best fleet ever?
Bewick no way was i trying to have a “punt” at you or any particular hauler but you know your self that was what it was like.
On a different note today my wife and I received our first Government food box it was a surprise,the boxes are very good, just like when i used to shop for a trip away .
Because my wife is classed a vulnerable c.o.p.d.our local health center must have put her name forward, and yes it was accepted we had no choice it was outside the front door , you can opt-out of the scheme if you have another source of supply of food i have mastered Sainsbury on line;; Doing the customs for the first time in many of the countries i and hundreds of brit drivers used by stealth esp the middle east men…sainsburys online come very close to all that Hassel, we will get our stores.
One of the main advantages a manufacturer obtained was they only paid for the tonnage that was shipped from A to B end of ! There was of course some work that was on a contract basis but this was usually very intensive and continuous but if it was priced properly this type of work was very lucrative wink wink ! Cheers Dennis
[zb]
anorak:
gingerfold:
Franglais:
gingerfold:
Brian Harris… a proper fleet… proper drivers… and Brian himself, a true haulage man and character.
Second… our own esteemed Bewick, started as an owner driver and built up a large successful business.
Worst… too many to list because I would have to consider the entire package of fleet, business management and ethics. And that would disqualify Hugarocamion from being anywhere near the best … rate cutters that spoiled the job for many UK hauliers that did Eastern European work.
Rate cutters?
If I work harder, and am more competitive than Joe Bloggs , that’s because I ain’t afraid of hard work, and ain’t a greedy profiteer.
If Joe Soap undercuts me, that’s because he probably runs bent, and is a mug carving up the job.
[emoji3]
There is a vast difference between being competitive and blatant rate cutting. If a company is state subsidised then it can obtain work at undercut rates to keep its drivers employed. After all Hungarocamion was a job creation project. Hard work or otherwise has absolutely nothing to do with it in this instance.
A bit of a clash of overriding economic policy here. If Hungarocamion, as the other poster says above, used to subject its drivers to an unproductive 12 month training course, it was obviously reliant on state funding. There are stories on the Middle East threads about GB drivers having repairs done for nothing in Eastern Bloc countries, because transport costs were shared, as were the benefits of goods moving about. I would guess that a Hungarian driver would blanch at the cost of a breakdown in GB, just as us Europeans would, to be presented with an invoice for medical care in the US.
Those state-run firms might have resembled job creation schemes- work was done slowly and deliberately, shoulders were shrugged, profligacy abounded. It was inefficient, using minute-by-minute, ounce-by-ounce accounting methods. Was it less efficient than our maximum consumption model, in which stuff is made, consumed and made again, as fast as possible, and everyone extracts ten percent, including numerous parasites? I doubt it- as you say, when the two economic models met head-on, Hungarocamion was able to offer their professionally-qualified drivers, in top-of-the-range equipment, at a winning price.
You can teach someone to drive a lorry… but you cannot teach them to be a lorry driver, even if they have 12 years at a college. A good lorry driver has a “feel” for the job. And if you pay drivers a third of the wages than UK or French, or German drivers, then you can undercut the competition. The Hungarocamion set up was no example of how to run an international haulage business and in my opinion should never be regarded as such.
atlas man:
A ONE transport had a well managed fleet when Mr Jack Robinson was in charge
There’s a photo of Jack Robinson in Vintage Roadscene this month outside newly opened Tillotsons on Preston St Bradford with a new AEC Mercury