Unit 10. LOGISTICS (TRANSPORT)

RSA’s sells of the printers which they manufacture have recently been suffering, as they have been having considerable problems with their transport firm, Briggs and Co, who has let them down over deliveries. RSA are coming to the end of their contract with Briggs, and are looking for another transport firm to take over from them.

A firm with a high reputation in this field is Haulage International, a company based in Holland but with a large depot in Armenia. Haulage International specialize in the transportation of delicate equipment such as computers, and is probably the largest and the most experienced firm for this kind of work. RSA are therefore going to approach Haulage to find out if they can do business together.

Complete the words from the right-hand column.

 

to make or produce m _______________

an agreement c _______________

headquarters or storehouse d _______________

central or head office b ______________

a person you can trust is r ______________

doing good work; economical e _______________

goods that are damaged or destroyed b ________________

 

 

Fill each gap in the following passage with an appropriate word.

RSA have ____ having considerable problems with ____ transport firm, Briggs and Co, ____ has let them down over _____. RSA are coming to the ___ of their contract with Briggs, and ___ looking for another transport firm ___ take over from them. A ___ with a high reputation in ___ field is Haulage International, a _____ based in Holland but with___ large depot in Armenia. Haulage International _____ in the transportation of delicate ________ such as computers, and is _____ the largest and the most experienced ____ for this kind of work. ______ are therefore going to approach Haulage to find ____ if they can ___ business together.

 

Match the expressions with the functions.

interrupting asking for information bargaining disagreeing (refusing an offer)	Could I ask you about…?
I’m afraid that won’t be possible.
I wonder if I could come in here?
I’m sorry to interrupt you, but…
I wonder if I could ask you about…?
That’s a little high for us. What would your lowest price be for…?
We really couldn’t accept that.

4. Briggs & Co has let them down over deliveries.

“Let down” – if you let someone down, you don’t do what you promise.

Briggs & Co promised to deliver. They didn’t deliver.

Briggs & Co let them down by not delivering.

Rewrite these pairs of sentences in the same way.

1. You promised to provide me with a car. You didn’t provide me with a car.

2. They promised to give us a good contract. They didn’t give us a good contract.

We can also say:You’ve promised to make deliveries. You will make deliveries, won’t you?

This is better expressed by: You won’t let me down over deliveries, will you?

 

Rewrite these pairs of sentences in the same way.

1. You’ve promised to pay me. You will make payments, won’t you?

2. You’ve promised to do the work. You will do the work, won’t you?

 

Information Sharing

You are:Pierre Constanze, Transport Manager for RSA. You are responsible for deliveries of all RSA’s printers form their factories in Armenia to all other countries in Europe. The most important aspects of these deliveries for you are not speed or cheapness, but carefull handling and efficiency. Toy are going to a meeting with the Managing Director of Haulage International, and you want to find out what he can offer you.

 

Detail of RSA’s needs

1. You paid Briggs & Co $4000 per 1000 km for transportation
(of about 1000 printers). You want to know what Haulage International will charge you.

1) You want to transport about 1,000,000 printers a year with Haulage. Your output for export is about 2,000,000 printers a year. The remaining 1,000,000 printers will be transported by four or five smaller firms.

2) You want to transport printers all over Europe, including Eastern Europe and Russia.

3) It is very important to know that:

a. the drivers making the deliveries are reliable and punctual

b. the goods will be handled carefully

c. Haulage will pay for any breakages.

Instructions:

At your meeting with Lawrence Van der Valk, the Managing Director of Haulage, try to find out all you can about the following:

- prices

- the countries they deliver to

- how much business they can do for you

- whether they can guarantee that the goods will be handled carefully and efficiently, and if they will take responsibility for breakages.

This is not a bargaining session. Your aim is to provide and receive information.

Dialogue

Claude Schmidt, the Managing Director of RSA, is talking to Lawrence Van der Valk, the Managing Director of Haulage International, about the possibility of Haulage to transport RSA’s printers.

CS: Good morning, Mr. Van der Valk. I wonder if I could talk to you about our transport.

LW: Yes, certainly. I suppose you know I’ve been talking to Mr. Constanze?

CS: Yes, yes. Now, could I ask you about your prices?

LW: Our prices are fairly standard for all our deliveries. Our normal charge for lorry transport is $8,000 per 1000 kilometers, and we’ve estimated that we could get about 1.500 of your printers into one of our lorries.

CS: Well, look, I’m rather worried about this question of cost – it seems this would put our transportation costs by one third and I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible.

LW: Well, we could probably lower the price for you. This would depend on the amount of business, which is… er…

CS: I wonder if I could come in here,, Mr. Van der Valk… What would your lowest price be for, let’s say, one million printers for export?

LW: Well, of course this would depend on the contract, but I would say, for that amount of business… we could probably lower the price by about 10%.

CS: Ten per cent?

LW: Yes.

CS: Ten per cent… so you’d be asking $7,200 per 1000 kilometers…

LW: Yes.

CS: … and that would be for 1,500 printers each time?

LW: Yes.

CS: Hmm… that’s still a little high for us… Would you then be prepared to accept responsibility for breakages?

LW: Our normal costs do not include breakages. The client is always responsible for insurance of goods in transit.

CS: I see… well… no… we really couldn’t accept that. Is there any possibility of a lower price from you?

LW: This might also be possible, but again, of course, it would depend on the amount of business.

CS: I see. Well, perhaps we can still come to an agreement, Mr. Van der Valk. Can I arrange another appointment for you with Pierre Constanze?

LW: Certainly.

CS: Next Tuesday, perhaps?

LW: That would be fine.

CS: Good. Goodbye, then.

LW: Goodbye.