Concerns over truck supply

David Farbon, Chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Committee of the British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association (BVRLA) has added his voice to the growing dissatisfaction over supply shortages for new trucks. Farbon is UK commercial director of Fraikin which is one of the country’s top suppliers in the sector with 6,250 commercial vehicles on contract hire, 8,000 under comprehensive fleet management and a rental fleet of nearly 1,500 vans and trucks.

Speaking after a recent meeting of Commercial Vehicle Members at the BVRLA, Farbon said, “Let me make it clear; I am not directly criticising the UK operations of the truck manufacturers but rather their manufacturing counterparts. I find it absolutely incredulous that a mature market, such as the commercial vehicle manufacturing industry, can get things so dramatically wrong for its customers.”

He went on, “I am concerned for the rental and leasing industry itself, of course, but I am far more concerned about our industrys’ customers. Every day I hear new stories of how this failure by major manufacturers to correctly assess UK market needs, is impacting on their abilities to modernise their fleets and deliver the service their own customers expect. And it is a failure. I hear excuses about the emergence of East European economies driving production volumes to that part of the world, but that must have been as predictable as the continuing demand from the UK. Even if not, then surely the fact that UK vehicles are all right hand drive, would have kept those planned volumes at the right levels –the production planning for 2008 deliveries must have been set up 12-18 months ago.

“OK, BVRLA Members can extend contract periods on these older vehicles to keep their operators on the road, and are having to do so, but they are going to be less fuel efficient than the modern vehicles our customers would like to be operating, and will also be more demanding in terms of service and parts. But it goes even deeper than simply the direct operational issues.

“At a time when the transport industry is beset by legislation aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and fuel duties continue to rise, we are being forced by the manufacturers to run older and older trucks. When you look at the size of the UK van and truck rental and leasing fleet, which is around 550,000, and see how many vehicles should have been replaced already, you begin to get an idea of the adverse environmental impact this problem is having on the UK.”

BVRLA Director General, John Lewis, backed Farbon’s protest, saying, “Our Members have very real concerns about meeting their customers’ needs and delivering the modern rental and leasing fleet which UK Plc should be using. The damage to both parties is becoming more and more pronounced as the months go by, with no real comfort from the manufacturing industry that things will change in the near future. If a round-table meeting would help, then the BVRLA is more than willing to host it. If there are things the manufacturers want to add to the debate to help the industry understand what is going wrong, then we would be delighted to facilitate such an opportunity.

“Apart from anything else,” he went on, “If the issue is that of feeding emerging markets, then manufacturers are doing UK road transport operators an even bigger disservice. Because, in taking this approach, they are supplying the very cabotage business that is such a major problem for this country and other West European markets, while denying us the trucks to fight back. A poor return for the billions of pounds the industry has invested into those same manufacturers over the years when Eastern Europe was a closed shop for them.

“We need to know what can be done and when UK operators can expect a return to supply patterns that match market demands.”