Fraser Live: The world's longest peak hour

The world's longest peak hour

Hell hath no fury like a cash-strapped state government. Nobody is safe from state treasuries as they flush out soft targets.

In NSW, the Sydney Ports Corporation - the body that controls the offloading and pick-up of shipping containers at Port Botany - has decided to impose congestion charges on trucks picking up containers at certain times. A "peak hour" charge of $160 will apply to pick-ups between 5am and 1 pm - indeed an elongated hour, maybe the longest in the world. There's more. Between 1pm and 9pm is quaintly referred to as "shoulder" and it gouges $80 from the truckies.

These charges, thinly disguised as incentives to reduce traffic congestion, are passed on from transporters to importers to retailers to consumers. At each step of the way attempts are made to resist the impost but, in the end, the consumer will indirectly pay the government to reduce traffic congestion they didn't know about.

In a futile attempt to make the deal sound more reasonable, the Sydney Ports Corporation has offered not to charge trucks in "off-peak" times considered to be between 9pm and 5am on weekdays.

The weekend incentive is a rebate of $20 a truck - which will be swallowed up by the overtime charged by truckies as they cart their containers to company loading docks which are normally closed at these times. If forced to open, they will add their slab of overtime to the mix.

I am pleased the NSW Government has honestly demonstrated that the primary purpose of the state's main wharves is not for the receiving and distribution of containers, but a revenue raiser under the feeble pretence of traffic control.

Other state governments, also hungry for money, will be watching to see if the good folk of NSW swallow this dash for cash and, if successful, will follow suit.

Chickenman out of the closet

The prize for guessing who Chickenman is was carried off  by Chickenman himself when he called me and confessed. That, of course, has granted him ongoing anonymity because I would never break such a confidence.

The good news is that he has agreed to follow up with another chickenrant which I now present to you straight from his pen in the pen.

"My father built one of the country's largest fashion agencies in the 1970s and early '80s at a time when trade was solid and discounting meant throwing end-of-season leftovers out at a reduction of 20 per cent. Can you imagine that working today? I joined the business in the mid '80s and although we saw some great times we never made enough money, but we worked hard and we loved what we did. We still do.

"Money is not the reason behind my comments, but more a drive to find a balance, as a manufacturer, between providing retailers with an acceptable margin on seasonally correct product and then retailers trading that product to maximise their profit opportunities rather than repeatedly coming back to the table and asking for discounts.

This has not only created a fools' paradise of increased price points at retail to fund the anticipated downside, but has increased competition as manufacturers try to balance their risk by entering the retail business with their own stores which have now grabbed a sizeable market share. These manufacturers believe they have seen the light by being able to trade their product at price points consumers want to pay.

To show the relevance of my argument, a chain of mainstream women's fashion stores in Sydney and the ACT recently fell on hard times and were forced into administrators. If my information is correct, these stores have not closed, but instead were picked up by a major national supplier.

This is where the system goes pear shaped. Retailers who have shown loyalty over many years carrying these brands will be inconvenienced, the majors will have new and more professional competition while the suppliers will be under tremendous pressure to hold their volumes and margins in place by continuing to supply. This is a no win situation for all involved.

"Another cracker: Having exhibited our brand at Fashion Exposed we were recently sent a survey to see if we would like the show to be moved to, wait for it, earlier in the year. Are they kidding? When the vertical retail powerhouses of the world are publicly saying that their market advantage is how quickly they can get a new style from designer to floor, we have a show that wants to ask our retailers to order product even earlier. Fashion Exposed should be a business that has been created to assist the industry, but is instead worrying about itself rather than that of its target market."

Chickenman, it seems, has created some jealousy. So much so that another commentator has appeared from the bird population. He is known as Dr Quack-quack and will make his first anonymous contribution next issue.

Anybody else who wants to make hard-edged, preferably nasty observations from behind a curtain of secrecy should speak up soon because the roost is likely to become overcrowded.