Businesses on Arran have voiced their anger over a CalMac freight service which they say has “collapsed” since a new summer timetable was introduced at the end of March.
The freight service is used by the NHS, Scottish Water, Stagecoach, vehicle repairers, retailers, florists and newsagents, all of whom rely and pay for the delivery of urgently needed goods.
Previously the freight service ensured that items were loaded on to a CalMac freight van on the first available ferry, usually at 7am from Ardrossan. However, according to a growing number of users, this has now deteriorated to such an extent that it has become unreliable.
Clair Reeves of The Bay Kitchen and Stores told the Banner: “The CalMac freight van is a critical service that CalMac provides to this island to deliver newspapers, auto parts, flowers, sometimes NHS products and many other items.
“This service has worked for years. The van is driven on to the boat by port staff and driven off by port staff on the other side so that papers and goods can be delivered."
Clair says that the failures have deeper, far-reaching implications for her business and customers.
She added: “Deliveries like these are really important to businesses, customer satisfaction and a general sense of ‘systems are working’.
“As a retailer in uncertain times, the simple fact the 7am sailing is cancelled, will result in my takings being down by an average of 20 per cent as newspapers bring customers. As a courtesy, I let as many know as possible so they don’t make a wasted trip to the shop. It spirals into negativity. It’s sad and unfathomable that it seems the staff and management responsible don’t seem to care enough or appreciate how important this service is.”
Fiona Laing, a distributor for Menzies Distribution for more than 29 years, described the service as “collapsing”. She collects newspapers in the morning and delivers them to newsagents across the island but says there are almost daily failures of the freight service either not arriving or being late.
The situation finally came to a head last Saturday when a catalogue of failures led to freight not being delivered, even though there were three sailings.
Fiona said: “Saturday plumbed a whole new depth of incompetence, even for CalMac. The 7am vessel sailed but I called CalMac at 7.02am and was told the freight van was not on it. I left the house at 10am only to find the fvan and papers hadn’t been put on board the 9.45am either.
“The ferry was then cancelled, with a review at 3pm before subsequently being berthed for the day. A staff member at Brodick called Ardrossan and told them to get the van to Troon for the Alfred sailing at 1.35pm - arriving in Brodick around 3pm - which would salvage some sales for the day, but not for the businesses on the west coast.
"I continued with my regular Saturday grocery deliveries from Pirnmill shop to Lochranza before heading back to Brodick to collect the papers at 3pm. While there my phone rang. It was Brodick port staff to say that a van had been driven to Troon, but not the van with the papers in it. They were still sitting in the other freight van in Ardrossan."
She added: "The last remaining Alfred sailing of the day was then cancelled which resulted in a day’s sales lost on the most profitable day of the week - despite three ferries sailing to Arran.
“The freight van which did come had goods for other businesses too and the staff at Ardrossan had no inclination to get them to Arran in a timely manner.
“Was it incompetence, indifference or spite that meant they held onto the freight longer than necessary when they loaded the parcels in to an empty van? There would have been plenty of room to do so. At least someone at Ardrossan had the decency to let Brodick terminal know the papers were still there otherwise I would have had another waste of time and fuel.”
A CalMac spokesperson explained the reason for the dip in service.
They said: “We are aware there have been occasions lately when we have been unable to carry the freight van over to Brodick on the first sailing of the day. This is due to port staff from Ardrossan supporting the training of new staff at Troon. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused to residents and businesses on Arran.
“We will be able to release staff back to Ardrossan once training has been completed and assure customers that we are exploring all options to ensure the daily freight van will resume its normal timetable as soon as possible.”
Pirnmill Village Store and Post Office staff also expressed their frustration with the service in an online post. It said: “Yet again, customers and business suffer at the hands of CalMac ferries.
“Like many other businesses on Arran, we rely heavily on the CalMac freight van ferrying time-critical supplies to the island. If all goes to plan, we usually have our delivery by 9.15am. Sadly, since the introduction of the summer timetable this has not been the case. On eight out of 12 occasions CalMac Ferries have neglected to put the freight van on the 7am sailing from Ardrossan, citing staffing issues with no-one able to drive the van on to the boat.
"As a direct consequence, deliveries arrive at 12.30pm and at 9.30pm on one occasion. A full morning of sales lost and cries for help fall on deaf ears.”
Fiona, who has wasted countless hours and fuel going to collect goods which have not been delivered, remained unconvinced that efforts are being made to improve the failing service.
She has penned a complaint to CalMac and says people need to be aware of the impact the failures are having on the island.
She added: “When speaking to people I am finding that the general public are completely unaware of how many small businesses, sole traders and organisations use the freight van service and are therefore unaware of the impact its unreliability is having.
“Most people will be completely unaware that the reason their car is still not fixed is possibly because of the failure of this service, likewise electricians and plumbers who use it for parts. Stagecoach uses it for bus parts, the NHS uses it and Scottish Water was waiting for a part last week. The unreliability of the service is impacting in a great deal of unseen ways and adding unnecessary stress and pressure to businesses which are already trying to cope with the overall poor ferry service. It’s a drip, drip, drip which is pushing businesses and people to the edge.
“The frustration is it is completely unnecessary. If they can’t organise to drive a van a few hundred metres onto a car deck, what hope is there that they can sort any of the bigger problems?”
Clair added: “It really feels we islanders are just a nuisance and there is a dereliction of duty and care.
“In the past 10 days, the van was driven on and the papers arrived with the first ferry to sail just three times. That is a 30 per cent success rate. It’s not good enough.
“We can’t fix the weather or the breakdowns, but surely they can get this right?"
In 2020, CalMac proposed ceasing its freight service between Ardrossan and Brodick. The proposal led to an outcry from businesses on Arran and across the west coast, with many saying the decision would result in their businesses having to close down. After widespread public anger, CalMac decided to scrap the proposal which it described as “not part of the lifeline service it provides”.
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