How NOT to run a transport company a.k.a. the Roadlink mess

For those of you who haven't been following the story in the news lately, here's some background: Roadlink is one of the larger cross-country bus services operating country-wide here in SA. They have had a few high-profile accidents, scattered around the country, in the past few years, but they've managed to get past them (it's bound to happen every now and then, sadly) and carried on operating. In the lead up to the Christmas season, though, they started having a number of incidents which made the headlines - partly due to the increased traffic enforcement on the national roads at that time of the year.

This culminated in their operating licence being withdrawn in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, meaning that their vehicle were not allowed on the roads at all. This was due to a number of accidents (with fatalities) involving their buses, as well as a number of their fleet being found unroadworthy during spot-checks by the authorities. They cried foul, and appealed the decision, which was suspended until this month, allowing Roadlink to operate during the peak season.

What pushed me to write this was reading an article two days ago about how one of their buses, operating on Kwa-Zulu Natal route, was pulled over and impounded for being unroadworthy. The clanger was that their full load of passengers was left to stand in the blazing sun for FIVE HOURS until another vehicle came to pick them up! Now, I've run a successful transport company since 2003, so I feel qualified to comment on this mess.

Firstly, dealing with the latest article, if you are going to run a transport company (especially a long-distance one) you ALWAYS need to have a contingency plan. Vehicles break down, get stuck in traffic, get re-routed due to roadworks and run off-schedule all the time, and you need to cater for this. Whether this means having one vehicle on standby at all times, or having support agreements with other operators, you have to make sure that your customers are inconvenienced as little as possible. The people using yor service often have somewhere to be, at a specific time, so don't screw them around. This need for a contingency plan actually applies to all businesses.

Secondly, if you run a transport company, why do you have unroadworthy vehicles on the road? Especially if your vehicles are large and passenger loads are generally full or close to it! Do you WANT to have an accident to get your company into the headlines? Now, I fully appreciate wanting to maximise revenue at the peak season of the year (especially when many industries are struggling), but you CANNOT do so at the expense of people's safety. Keep your downtime to a minimum, yes, but make damn sure that your vehicles meet basic roadworthy requirements!

Thirdly, the management is guilty if some horrible PR practices, and herein lies a lesson for all businesses. When the province decided to revoke their operating licences, Roadlink management made excuses and claimed that they were being unfairly victimised, with their vehicles being targeted by the authorities for inspections. Lesson: When under attack, or on the receiving end of criticism, never, never, never play the victim card or get defensive. Your customers already have a negative opinion of you (which is why you're getting criticised). The last thing you should do is get defensive, or you lose any last strand of integrity. Apologise, and clearly lay out how you will fix the problem - don't blame others. Would you rather be right, or in business?

In this case, Roadlink should spend whatever it needs to ensure that every last one of its fleet is roadworthy - even if every vehicle is stopped every time it travels. No exceptions. They should then aim to have an impeccable safety and arrival/departure time record for the next 6 months to a year. This should build back some lost credibility. If they don't do this, it could be the beginning of the end of the road for this bus company...