INDUSTRY OBSERVATION

On a rope to nowhere

PERHAPS ONE OF the most endemic problems in the transport industry is the (non) performance of non-preferred service suppliers. 

We are all aware that in every sector of road transport there are both good and bad service providers. This applies to whether you are a transport operator, insurer, finance house and so on. 

If, for example, a spares supplier is not up to standard in terms of price, service or even attitude, it is highly likely that market forces will cause the supplier to realise that unless the specific poor service issue is addressed there is a fair chance that, over time, the company will either cease to exist or continue as just another second rate business. 

So why do we continue to have problems with poor service supply in certain areas of the road transport industry? 

I believe that to a certain extent poor service is “protected” by an over abundance of friends and associates that keep the business ticking over. However, the scenario I illustrate below highlights to some extent why we end up with this permanent cancer. 

I refer to a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) based towing company who I believe has done considerable damage to ourselves and other insurers involved in the business of road transport. 

Once in a blue moon, certainly not on our instruction or that of our clients, this operator will “get hold of” one of our client’s vehicles and the charade begins. As everyone knows, once in a blue moon is not very often but it certainly wastes an inordinate amount of time and costs a great deal of money. 

“Get hold of”, as any insurer will attest, is the situation where one wakes up in the morning and discovers the “possession” of one their client’s vehicle’s is in the “capable hands” of one of these “pirates.” 

So a process of what can only be described as extortion starts. A nice fat towing fee is levied for the vehicle to be extracted and inevitably, at great cost, we are eventually forced to re-possess our client’s vehicle. 

This, I might add, is invariably embarrassing because as you are all aware, any time slippage from the client’s perspective is deemed to be our fault, so these situations always end up being a nightmare experience for our claims team. 

In addition, there has often been substantial thought put into this particular towing company’s invoice. By this I mean that the fees will be slightly below the meniscus of any obvious extortion level. So while ridiculously high, the fees can be defended if a legal process is actioned. 

I must point out that we have successfully obtained court orders to extract vehicles from such extortionate suppliers, specifically these type of towing companies, but the time wastage is often not warranted and I again refer to the fact that often, and quite correctly, our client is not interested in the vagaries of the recovery process but in the time it takes to conduct them. 

This, of course, is what our friendly KZN towing company is dependent and thrives upon. 

Needless to say, I would really like to see this particular pirate have their operating license withdrawn. Apart from the unethical business practices, they don’t have the proper equipment to carry out vehicle recoveries properly and safely.

They certainly don’t have any professionalism and despite our best efforts to keep our clients’ vehicles away from their pirate jaws, obviously through the nefarious dealings, they continue to run a thriving business. 

It has to be thriving because just one of their spurious invoices renders a healthy margin with which they are able to survive until the next unwary victim is snared! 

What I would really like is a collective effort to prevent this operator from operating in KZN or, at the very least, be prevented from performing insurance recoveries. 

I have often joked with the md of one the largest commercial vehicle towing companies in South Africa that I wish I had his business because, not only is it a fantastic business, but, when compared to the conduct of his opposition, elevates him to the status of being nothing short of brilliant. 

Of course there are some well run and very professional towing operators out there, but the dishonest ones often wreak havoc as they prowl the highways and byways of South Africa.