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How Rate-cutting is Fostered

13th January 1939, Page 107
13th January 1939
Page 107
Page 108
Page 107, 13th January 1939 — How Rate-cutting is Fostered
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

SWANSEA:Corporation hires 27ton, vehiclq! at £1 or even 18s. per day.; The corporation itself cannot operate its own vehicles of the same size, and

engaged on such work, for less 32s. per per day! .

The corporation contract embodies a. clause which states that those who enter into contracts must pay, wages on the scale ruling in the district. That scale;, in relation to 2-ton vehicles, is 67s, per week, net, which is equivalent to 71s. when provision is made for insurances, etc. There is, therefore, left 19s, per week to pay for the operation of the vehicle, to cover the haulier's establishment expenses and to provide a net profit. That is on the basis of a five day week at 18s. per day.

One local haulage contractor who is working for the corporation at the rate of £1 per day, has taken £323 from the corporation in nine months. Another haulage contractor, who will not work for less than 26s. per day, has received £27 from the corporation in the same period.

When these. two hauliers go before .fhe Licensing Authority for renewal of their licences-,. it Will be apparent that the first of them has plenty of work for his ehicles and he may even" be given a licence foian additional vehicle. IThe ..other is apparently unable to find work to 4e.e.p.,his, vehicles-.employed, and it may well be that his lieenCe will be taken away. It is thus .thatrate-cut

ting is encouraged.: Incidentally, none Of: the men is a member of a haulage association, the reason being that they cannot afford the subscription! .

• As showing the-farsreaching effects of rate-cutting, tliare a, feeling in Swansea that the whole industiy in that area was .ruined :as the ieSiire of sOrne considerable ;drainage ,work ,carried out about seeis" Years ago (pribr to the

Road and Traffic Act)

Thee.. was plenty of work for haulie.Ts, and lair rate was established in the beginning, at £2 10s. per day per 'vehicle of about 3 tons to 4 tons capacity. Outsiders, hearing i;:if this work, entered the district : and one by one citt the rate until,-; within. a. comparatively short

period, there was a host of them engaged at the rate of £1 per day. When that work was completed, these almost innumerable hauliers were left behind. •

A considerable proportion of the haulage in Swansea is over short distances, particularly the conveyance of steel plates to railhead and to factories. Materialds, however, being -carried from Swansea to London, this being one-way• traffic, and the round journey occupying about 440 miles. The rate is 16s. per ton, and if it be carried in maximum quantities of 15 tons per load, ' then this rate is equivalent to approximately Bid, per mile run, for a 15-ton vehicle, which is hardly a rate which can justify handling the traffic.

All these matters were disclosed and argued in the course of a prolonged discussion which followed an address by S.T.R. The Commercial Motor costs expert, to the Swansea Sub-area of the YORK'S VEHICLE PARADE A SUCCESS.

Unpleasant road conditions, resulting from the thaw, did not prevent the success of the parade of commercial vehicles, held at Chesterfield last Saturday, as counter-propaganda to the railway "square deal" campaign. Between 60 and 70 vehicles took part in the parade, held under the auspices of the Yorkshire Area of A.R.O., and one gratifying feature was the number of non-members which took part. A photograph of some of the vehicles in the parade appears on the previous page.

The procession, every vehicle in which bore propaganda posters, was more than a mile long, and its route covered about eight miles. Mr. F. G. Bibbings, licensing and propaganda officer to the Yorkshire A.R.O., who acted as marshal, accompanied the vehicles in a car fitted with loudspeakers. Through these he broadcast various points in support of the roadtransport claim for a " square deal."

Mr. Bibbings states that the question of holding similar demonstrations in other parts of the Yorkshire Area will be considered.

Leicester Chamber Lauds Road Transport.

"The. Leicester Chamber of Commerce is fully conscious of the importance of the road-transport industry and of its value to the members of the Chamber in carrying on their business. They would be horrified if they had to face a fraction of the difficulties which confront roadtransport operators when, for quite legitimate business reasons, they attempt to enlarge the scope of their operations."

Thus spoke Mr. C. E. Worthington, president of the Leicester Chamber of Commerce, at the annual dinner of the East Midland Area of A.R.O., last Saturday,

Major Craw furd, president of A.R.O., referred -to a statement in railway propaganda that the road-transport -industry had not done anything to

434 South Wales Area of A.R.O., on Thursday night of last week.

Mr. C. L. Hayes was in the chair and he was supported by an audience of 30 active hauliers. Not all those present operate at these cut rates and many, especially those from surrounding districts, were surprised to learn that their Swansea colleagues were so foolish.

One Swansea operator who does not cut rates expressed his faith in the Time and Mileage method of calculating rates which S.T.R. so frequently stresses. The address dealt with figures for the cost of operation of steam wagons and trailers, as well as with petrol vehicles, and interest was keen.

At the close of the meeting a vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. B. B. McIverny and seconded by Mr. F. C. Williams. Amongst those present were Mr. C. J. Wyatt, the secretary of the South Wales Area, and Mr. H, Bevan, the local honorary secretary.

implement the report of the T.A.C. That was contrary to the facts. An immense amount of work had been done. There was one man present who had spent nearly a year on the compilation of a rates schedule. (He was referring to S.T.R., The Commercial Motor costs expert.) Councillor A. E. 14. Sevier referred to the good work being done by S.T.R. in the lectures on costs and rates.

A Fair Share for Road, in Defence Transport.

An approach which has been made to Government quarters, having reference to the transport of gas masks, was mentioned at the annual dinner of the Hull branch of the C.M.U.A., last Saturday. Mr. G. H. Brook, of Leeds, secretary of the North-eastern Division of the Association, said that during the crisis the railways got all the contracts for the carriage of respirators. Since then the C.M.U.A. had approached the authorities and had been assured that in the event of another crisis road-transport services would not be overlooked.

Mr. Frank Cook, chairman of the Hull branch, voiced a welcome to Mr. R. E. Britton, chairman of the Hull Subarea of A.R.O., and congratulated Mr. Britton on his appointment as representative for Hull on the Yorkshire Area Wages Board. Mr. Britton emphasized that as a member of the Board he would work not just for A.R.O. but for all road operators.

References to the merger question were made, both by C.M.U.A. and A.R.O. speakers. Mr. G. H. Brook hinted that there may be developments in the near future, and Mr. R. E. Britton expressed the hope that a merger would materialize.

Introducing A.R.O. Memorandum.

Last Wednesday, Major H. E. Crawfurd, President of A.R.O., gave a masterly summary of the case for the road before a gathering of about 60 members of the Association and the Press. We will deal with this in our next issue. ELIMINATING WASTE IN INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORT.

The importance of co-ordinating transport management with the administration of manufacturing and distributing processes was stressed by Mr. G. W. Wright, director of Evans Sons, Lescher and Webb, Ltd., in an address, last week, to the Liverpool branch of the Industrial Transport Association, A clean-cut organization, with definite lines of control, was, he said, essential for a big business.

The traffic. department, where it existed as a separate unit, should be so organized that it could render service to the purchasing and sales departments and enter into a co-ordinated policy of marketing and advertising.