OPINION

IRHA AGM and from Supply Chains to Supply Trains!

After a suspension of three years due to the pandemic, the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) held its 49th Annual General Meeting & Conference in Killarney at the beginning of September. It was an opportunity for members to meet face to face and compare where their businesses stand in relation to each other. Compared to the last time the AGM was held in public, the world and the road transport industry have changed beyond recognition. Not just from Covid-19 and Brexit, more recently the war in Ukraine has put the cost of fuel at a level unimaginable just a year ago. Staff and skills shortages are a continuing problem, in particular finding qualified drivers. New trucks and many spare parts are not as easily obtained as they once were, and when available, the costs have increased by double digits.

“Supply chains are challenged” seems to be the common phrase in the media these days. In the past, the terms ‘supply chains’ and ‘logistics providers’ never sat easily with traditional hauliers. They always felt it was a term to bring them into the picture, while reducing the importance of their role as the mere physical transport element of the process. Well, the only upside of the current state of the industry is that the road haulage element of logistics and the part it plays in it has been elevated to a more important place. The conspicuousness of the truck part of logistics is now more visible.

If asked to describe the mood at the IRHA gathering, in a word I would say “dignified”. For the first time in memory, the industry has the ball at its foot in terms of pricing, but there was little talk over the weekend about holding manufacturers or distributors to ransom by crippling rate increases. Yes, of course, hauliers can recover costs and make a profit, but hardly to the extent some sectors are currently doing. For years, those working in the road haulage industry were, as Alan Dukes T.D., and former Transport Minister once said; “price takers rather than price makers”. Now as resources are limited and costs are increasing, the road haulage industry is being responsible, a sentiment that came through very clearly over the weekend in Killarney.

Government Ministers Hildegarde Naughton T.D., and Jack Chambers T.D., attended and addressed the AGM, and both were treated with extreme courtesy and were embraced by all members and attendees. While it is true that the Association has not always been well regarded by the political system, it is a far cry from where it has come from. Some will remember a Conference in the early 90’s when a Minister told the AGM that luckily the meeting was near her home, which allowed her to attend. Not very endearing.

Both Ministers present acknowledged the role the industry played during the Covid crisis. While no haulier ever compared themselves to the role the front line workers played, collectively they knew that the key service provided was as a back-up and support to them. It was good to hear of this political acknowledgement and hopefully, both Ministers will remember the courtesy extended to them in Kerry.

The combination of Brexit, Covid, and a need to assist in the reduction of the carbon footprint, together with the war in Ukraine has dramatically changed the road transport industry. These and other events have necessarily modified the way transport planners view their work and added to the challenge. Coupled with the unforgettable temporary blocking of the Suez Canal by a wayward container ship, these have all added to a change in focus about where supplies should be held. Warehousing which had almost become extinct in Western Europe, is now an important feature for manufacturers. Hauliers should not fear the terms used to describe their industry, they are the supply trains.